| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The James D. Burrus Alumni Association, the Harris |
|
|
County Historical Commission, the Independence Heights |
|
|
Conservancy, and the James D. Burrus Elementary School celebrated |
|
|
the dedication of an Official Texas Historical Marker at the school |
|
|
on February 8, 2023; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1908, African American families began settling in |
|
|
the Independence Heights community, and in an effort to meet the |
|
|
educational needs of area children, the Independence Heights School |
|
|
was established in a local church; following a petition to the |
|
|
Harris County Commissioners Court in 1911, a two-room house was |
|
|
moved from Sunset Heights to East 39th Street to serve as the |
|
|
official schoolhouse; in addition, the building functioned as an |
|
|
important cultural center and hosted many political and community |
|
|
meetings; Oliphant Lockwood Hubbard, the school's first teacher, |
|
|
later became principal and mayor of Independence Heights; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1923, the Colored Citizens Committee addressed |
|
|
the Houston school board about inequalities and proposed bond |
|
|
allocation for the construction of a new school, which was |
|
|
completed in 1928 at its current location on East 33rd Street; the |
|
|
school was renamed after James Dallas Burrus, an educator who was |
|
|
born into slavery and was a professor of mathematics at Fisk |
|
|
University for 47 years; during its first year in operation, Burrus |
|
|
Elementary had 5 teachers and served 185 students; by the 1930s, |
|
|
enrollment had grown to more than 600 students, with 13 teachers on |
|
|
staff; it became a junior high school for a time, but due to |
|
|
rezoning, desegregation, and the addition of other middle schools, |
|
|
the campus was later returned to an elementary school; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Over the course of its history, James D. Burrus |
|
|
Elementary School has made a positive difference in the lives of |
|
|
many Houston youth, and the dedication of this historical marker |
|
|
provides a fitting tribute to the essential role it has played in |
|
|
educating several generations of area residents; now, therefore, be |
|
|
it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the dedication of an Official Texas |
|
|
Historical Marker for the James D. Burrus Elementary School and |
|
|
commend all those involved in securing this honor for their |
|
|
efforts. |