Priscilla Graham Photography: Blog

Booker T Washington High School

Fri, 05 Oct 2018 22:34:06 GMT

Booker T Washington High School

Booker T Washington Elementary is the first HISD African American School renamed between 1911 and 1913 in honor of Booker T. Washington. During the time, it was the only school to be named after a living person. Booker T. Washington was admired by many and considered the wizard of Tuskegee. Therefore, when his name was presented to the school board, it was adopted without thought of its effect upon custom. The school's first principal was E. O. Smith.

Later, the Old Colored High School founded in 1893 located on San Felipe was renamed Booker T High School in 1928. The school’s first principal was Charles H. Atherton. The first student to graduate from the high school was Wright Mungin in 1896.

Booker T Washington

On April 5, 1856, Booker Taliaferro Washington was born into slavery on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia near Hale's Ford. His mother's name was Jane and his father was an unknown white man. Jane was the slave of James Burroughs.

The Civil War ended when Washington was nine years old. Washington recalls the day in his 1901 book Up from Slavery to the White House: As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more ring, and lasted later into the night. Most of the verses of the plantation songs had some reference to freedom... Some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read a rather long paper, the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After the reading, we were told that we were all free, and could go when and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side, leaned over and kissed her children, while tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She explained to us what it all meant, that this was the day for which she had been so long praying but fearing that she would never live to see." Jane immediately moved her family to West Virginia to join her husband Washington Ferguson.

When Washington was ten years old, he worked as a houseboy for a white family. He also worked in a salt furnace and coal mines to earn money to further his education. Washington attended and worked his way through Hampton Institute in 1862 at the age of 16. He later attended Wayland Seminary, Washington, DC for six months. After graduating, Washington returned to Hampton Institute and became a teacher. Former Union Brevet Brigadier General Sam Chapman Armstrong, Hampton Institute's President, recommend the 25-year-old Washington to head Tuskegee Institute in 1881. Washington modeled Tuskegee Institute after Armstrong's philosophy at Hampton Institute.

Washington was married to Fannie N. Smith, Olivia A. Davidson, and Margaret James Murray. He fathered three children, Portia M. Washington, Booker T. Washington Jr., and Ernest Davidson Washington. Washington credits his three wives for their contributions to the success of Tuskegee Institute. The success of Tuskegee Institute won Washington support amongst Colored leaders and northern white philanthropist especially Julius Rosenwald.

In 1895, during his Atlanta Compromise address at the Cotton States Exposition, Washington struck the keynotes of racial accommodationism: Cast down your buckets where you are. In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. Washington was an educator, author, orator, and adviser to United States Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

Reliving Camp Logan 1917 Houston Riot and Mutiny At Fort Sam Houston

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 16:46:38 GMT

It is important to tell our stories from our perspective. What I have realized is that no one perspective is the same. There is no wrong or right. Our experiences and environment divides us on seeing eye to eye on many things especially on racial issues. I had the pleasure and opportunity to participate and tour Fort Sam Houston on September 28, 2018, 100 years after the last six soldiers were hung at Camp Travis on September 17 and 24, 1918. I sat in the very same place, Gift Chapel, where the first 63 soldiers of the Third Battalion of the all Black Twenty Fourth United States Infantry Regiment sat for their trial and received their convictions.

Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan spoke to the audience on the topic of good leadership versus bad leadership paralleling the subject with leadership regarding Black soldiers in Waco versus Houston. The presentation was very insightful in regards to Houston's Commanding Officer, Major Kneeland S. Snow. I had the honor of speaking to the audience after the General, followed by a local historian who lead the bus tour. After completing the meet and greet in Gift Chapel, we loaded the Bowtie Boys bus for a bus tour throughout the base. The group deboarded the bus at Hangman's Grove. After a short lecture describing the events at the location, we proceeded to the 19 soldiers' first resting place after being hung. I must say it was truly a chilling experience walking on such sacred ground. The tour ended at the soldiers' final resting place, Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

The Bowtie Boys were either placed behind a grave of given a flag to place in front of a headstone. A wreath was placed on Private William D. Boone's grave site because he was the only soldier hung alone on September 24, 1918. After Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan remarks, I am more convinced than ever that the President of the United States should posthumous pardon the 4 soldiers killed on August 23, 1917, 109 soldiers initially convicted, and one soldier not prosecuted because of insanity. These men were American Hero’s but because of the color of their skin were treated disrespectfully because many white southerners believed that African American soldiers were inferior and should not be allowed to wear the uniform. Many of Houston, Texas whites including the police department resented the soldiers’ display of pride, exhibition of self-worth, and badge of authority of the United States uniform which they construed as arrogance and a threat to Jim Crowism.

The men of the 3^rd Battalion of the 24^th US Infantry Companies I, K, L, and M unapologetically exhibited their pride, self-worth, and understood their value. They believed that their contributions to the security of the country, the United States of America, had earned them the respect and recognition of their constitutional rights. The actions of these Colored soldiers have been miss characterized and historically blamed for the mutiny that they did not initiate. The commanding officers, military, local, state, and federal government failed to protect the soldiers and remedy situations involving brutality on numerous occasions. Therefore, faced with fear and imminent danger, the soldiers reacted as any reasonable person would when faced with possible death in a hostile environment regardless of orders from superiors. They were acting out of fear in an effort to protect themselves from the gunfire fired into and outside the Negro Troop Barracks.

The one hundred and fourteen soldiers were stripped of their honor, died, and lived in disgrace. Given the circumstances and the time in which they lived and despite the situations still excelled. If the Houston Police Officers involved in the riot can be held in a place of honor at the Police Memorial, then from a humanity perspective so should these soldiers. Give them back their honor or take the honor away from the officers involved.

The one hundred and fourteen soldier names are as follows:

Sergeant Vida Henry
Private Bryant Watson
Private Wily L. Strong
Private George Bivens
Sergeant William C. Nesbitt
Corporal Larsen J. Brown
Corporal James Wheatley
Corporal Jesse Moore
Corporal Charles W. Baltimore
Private First Class William Brackenridge
Private First Class Thomas Coleman Hawkins
Private First Class Carlos H. Snodgrass
Private Ira B. Davis
Private James Divins
Private Frank Johnson
Private Risley W. Young
Private Patrick Pat McWhorter
Private Earnest E. Adams
Private John Adams
Private Wash Adams
Bugler Reuben W. Baxter
Private Douglas T. Bolden
Private Fred Brown
Private Richard Brown
Private Robert Brownfield
Private Walter Burkett
Private Allie C. Buttler
Private Harrison Capers
Private Ben Cecil
Private James Coker
Private Abner Davis
Private Gerald Dixon
Cook William Frazier
Private Callie Glenn
Private Henry Green
Private James R. Hawkins
Private George Hobbs
Private Norman B. Holland
Private William J. Hough
Private First Class John H. Hudson, Jr.
Cook Nathan Humphreys, Jr
Private Thomas Jackson
Private First Class James R. Johnson
Private Walter T. Johnson
Private Richard Lewis
Private Douglas Lumpkins
Private Ben McDaniel
Private Dean New
Private George H. Parham
Private Stewart W. Phillips
Private Leroy Pinkett
Private Harry Richardson
Private Luther Rucker
Private Jesse Sullivan
Private Roy Tyler
Private Joseph Wardlow
Private Joseph Williams, Jr
Private Oliver Fletcher
Private First Class Alvin Pugh
Private Henry T. Walls
Private Walter B. Tucker
Private Babe Collier
Private Thomas McDonald
Private James Robinson
Private Joseph Smith
Private Albert D. Wright
Corporal John Washington
Corporal Robert M. Jones
Corporal Earl Clowers
Private Louie O’Neal
Private Ed McKenney
Private London Martin
Private Will Porter
Private John Smith
Private Eugene B. Taylor
Private Ernest Wilson
Private Charles Banks
Private William D. Boone
Private Henry L. Chenault
Corporal John Geter
Private John H. Gould
Corporal James H. Mitchell
Private Edward Porter
Private Robert Smith
Corporal Robert Tillman
Private Hezekiah C. Turner
Corporal Quiller Walker
Private Grant Anderson
Private Fred Avery
Private William Burnette
Private Isaac A. Deyo
Private William L. Dugan
Private James Gaffney
Private Charles J. Hattan
Private Albert T. Hunter
Private John Lanier
Private William Mance
Private Sherman V. Vetelcer
Private James E, Woodruff
Private Howard E. Bennett
Private Tom Bass
Private Glenn L. Hedrick
Private Doyle Lindsey
Private James V. Wofford
Private Warsaw Lindsay
Private Edie Maxwell
Private Samuel Riddle
Private Henry Thomas
Private John Jackson
Private Joe McAfee
Private David Wilson
Private Joseph T. Tatums
Private Grant Wells
Wilder P. Baker

Houston Freedmen's Town

Sun, 20 Sep 2015 15:11:43 GMT

Screenshot Houston Freedmen's Town 8.5x8.5-60 page full color paperback pictorial history of some of the remaining structures in Freemen's Town. Each book sells for $25 and part of the proceeds will be donated to Freedmen's Town Preservation Coalition.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/priscilla-t-graham/houston-freedmens-town/paperback/product-22127403.html

Trinity United Methodist Church

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 18:46:49 GMT

Trinity United Methodist Church is the oldest African-American congregation in Houston and the first brick church in Texas. The church's cornerstone was laid on March 2, 1843 on a 50 feet x 60 feet lot located on Milam Street. "Records reflect that in the afternoon the Presiding Elder preached to 32 Negro members in the same house in which the whites worshipped."

A small frame building was built on the northwest corner of Milam in 1851 after the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

Cultural Understanding & Education through Historic Preservation

Wed, 09 Jul 2014 00:21:10 GMT

Freedmen's Town is one if the most endangered, Post Civil War, National Register Historic Districts of its kind in the United States. Freedmen's Town was founded by previously enslaved people and their descendants immediately after Emancipation in 1865.

Since its designation as a National District in 1985, over 500 Freedmen's Town historic structures including six churches have been destroyed and its historic bricks have been damaged and are still in jeopardy. However, thanks to many volunteers and generous donors, six structures on 10 lots have been saved.

Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum is committed to preserving historic structures on their original homesteads and to preserving archaeological resources for the continuous study of Freedmen's settlement nationally and internationally.

Please donate to create an African Heritage, Cultural Research, Educational, and Tourism destination for Texas!

Your Gift will be used toward:

The final payment on one historic homestead
Student Internships
Research
Operations
Brick Street Preservation
genealogy
Archaeology Field School Courses for Girl and Boy Scouts
Historic Markers, tours, and Authors' Corner Book Signing Series

Or towards:

Yates Printing Museum 1912
Office/Gift Shop/Intern Training Center 1895
Health and Business Museum 1907
Barber/Beauty Shop Museum 1917
Archaeology Field School Lab 1917
Historic Gardens and Green Classrooms 1867

Mailing address:

Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum

PO Box 130726

Houston, Texas 77219-0726

Voice Mail: 713-739-0163
www.yatesmuseum.org
Like [email protected]/YatesMuseums

All donations are tax deductible. Your donations may be eligible for Exxon Mobile or She'll Employees Easy Match Program.

The Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated in the State of Texas on December 26, 1996. Grand Founder: Olee Yates McCullough, M.A.

Emancipation Park

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:43:55 GMT

On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signed and published the Emancipation Proclamation; however, Texas did get the news until June 19, 1865 when General Granger proclaimed the slaves freedom in Galveston. For African Americans, June 19, the anniversary of the day, took on festive traditions and a new name, Juneteenth.

Reverend Jack Yates collected money from his congregation at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, the members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and other community leaders, to purchase property to celebrate Juneteenth in Houston, Texas. Resulting in Antioch Baptist, and Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church forming the Colored People’s Festival and Emancipation Park Association. In 1872 to honor of their freedom, they put down $1,000 payment on the purchase of 10 acres of open land for the home of their Juneteenth celebration, Emancipation Park.

The park was acquired by the city of Houston in 1918. During this time Emancipation Park was the only municipal park African-Americans could use until 1939 when Miss Annette Finnigan donated property to the city for a second one, Finnigan Park.

Texas Southern University

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:37:17 GMT

Reverend Jack Yates and two missionaries, Jennie L. Peck and Florence Dysart, founded The Baptist Academy at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in 1885. The Baptist Academy provided opportunities for the former slaves to help them learn about God and develop educationally, economically, and socially. The freed African Americans learned how to read, write, and basic math. The academy also taught trades which enabled the former slaves to become business owners.

The Baptist Academy later became Houston College. The Houston College was the forerunner of Texas Southern University, the Colored College which was established in 1927 to provide an opportunity for African-Americans to receive college training.

http://www.tsu.edu/About/History.php

The Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum

Thu, 03 Jul 2014 02:14:33 GMT

Freedom's Town, post Civil War community, founded by former slaves in 1865 immediately after the Emancipation proclamation, is one of the city's most important historical African-American communities. Nestled in the shadows of the nation's fourth largest city, Houston, the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum is housed in the Reverend Jack Yates son, Rutherford Yates original home built in 1912. The museum is located at 1314 Andrews Street. The streets, Andrews and Wilson, still contain the original patterns of bricks laid by the community's African American ancestors "the historic brick streets are a defining element of the historic character" (RBHY, 2014).

The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:19:41 GMT

The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch is the oldest ranch owned by African Americans in the United States. The 150 year old working ranch is less than 16 miles from downtown Houston. On any given day, one can see Reliant Stadium and the Astrodome from the ranch.

Houston Texans YMCA

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:33:41 GMT

Houston Texans YMCA, located in historic Houston's South Park, a post-World War II development, on the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Griggs Road is the first YMCA facility in the country to be named after a professional sports team, first LEED Gold certified YMCA in Texas, and one of only 11 in the nation.

Buffalo Soldier Musuem

Tue, 24 Jun 2014 23:47:17 GMT

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston, Texas was founded in 2000 to help preserve the legacy of the African American soldier in US history.

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church

Tue, 24 Jun 2014 23:26:11 GMT

Nestled between giant skyscrapers in downtown Houston, the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church was founded by a small group of freed slaves in January of 1866. Reverend Jack Yates was the church's first full-time pastor.

The Great Man "Quentin R. Mease"

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 00:41:32 GMT

There are many past and present leaders in the Greater Houston Community; however, Quentin R. Mease is one of the most admired. Houston legend, community leader, and civil rights pioneer Quentin R. Mease is a remarkable individual who grew up in an all-black coal mining town in Buxton, Iowa.

During the segregated United States military of WWII, Mease rose to the rank of captain and later became a major in the Air Force Reserve. After being honorably discharged from the military, he chose a career in servant leadership which lead him to Houston. In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, he became an agent for peaceful desegregation. Quietly working with powerful white civic leaders, such as John T. Jones and Roy Hofheinz, and effectively neutralizing obstructionists, like police chief Herman Short, Mease joined the forces that allowed Houston to avoid the racial violence experienced by other United States cities at the time.

Quentin Mease built the first African American YMCA in Houston and served as executive secretary for twenty five years. He is a founding member and first president of the Houston Area Urban League, the first African American member of the Downtown Rotary Club, and the first African American person on the Harris County Hospital District Board, which he chaired for 19 years. Today, the Quentin Mease Community Hospital is named in his honor and his dream for a new YMCA to embrace all has become a legacy to his life of service.

The African American Library at the Gregory School

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 03:58:25 GMT

The African American Library at the Gregory School is located in the historic Freeman’s Town. The library is housed in the Edgar M. Gregory School, which served as the first public school for African Americans in Houston. The Gregory School officially opened November 14, 2009. The first library of its kind in Houston and one of the few African American libraries in the country, the Gregory School serves as a resource to preserve, promote, and celebrate the rich history and culture of African Americans in Houston, the surrounding region, and the African Diaspora.

http://www.thegregoryschool.org/library.html

College Memorial Park Cemetery

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 02:32:02 GMT

The College Memorial Park Cemetery, located in historic fourth ward was founded in 1896 and is one of Houston's oldest African-American cemeteries. The remains of many religious, civic, education, and business leaders of the community including John Henry (Jack) Yates, a vital community leader, first pastor of Antioch Baptist Church and founder of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, who encouraged property ownership among black Houstonians; Fort Worth and Houston educator J. M. Terrell, who became principal of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College, president of Houston College and administrator of the Houston Negro Hospital; veterans of World War I and World War II; and participants in the racial conflict the Houston riot of 1917 are buried at this site.

Harrisburg Cemetery Houston, Texas

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 01:41:37 GMT

Harrisburg Cemetery is the oldest African American cemetery in Houston. Some estimate that its origin began in the 1830s; however, there is no documentation to establish the date of its original origins; however, in 1878, the Mutual Benevolent Association was chartered as a service to its members to arrange and sometimes finance burial services on this site.

The cemetery contains the remains of former slaves, veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and many others including Tom Blue, once a body servant of Sam Houston; Steve Ray, a rodeo rider and cowboy on the Samuel Allen Ranch in Pasadena; black civic leader George W. Sanders; Wilson Burley, who fought in the Civil War in the 84th U.S. Colored Infantry; Austin C. Winfree, a buffalo soldier who served in Cuba during the Spanish American War.

Even In Death Veterans Must Not Be Forgotten

Wed, 18 Jun 2014 21:16:03 GMT

Nestled in the shadows of Houston's Fifth Ward located east of downtown sits the historic Evergreen Negro Cemetery. There are broken white picket fences between the west and east sections of the cemetery separated by Lockwood Drive. Lockwood Drive was extended through the cemetery in 1960. Many of the graves were lost, moved, paved over, or through. It is estimated that the City of Houston removed 490 graves for the development and expansion.

The original land for the cemetery was designated by the cotton plantation that once stood at the intersection of Lockwood Drive and Market Street. The land was converted into one of the city 's first Negro cemeteries around 1893. Evergreen Negro Cemetery is the third oldest African American cemetery in Houston.

Today, the cemetery contains hundreds of unmarked, abandoned, and overgrown graves that contain the remains of hundreds of African American former slaves, Buffalo Soldiers, and World War I Veterans. I believe that even in death our veterans deserve respect. They should not be forgotten. As of today June 18, 2014, all the military headstones still contain the reefs that were placed on them in December.

There are no historical markers or signs to mark the historical resting place for African American Buffalo Soldiers and World War I Veterans buried in the the Historic Evergreen Negro Cemetery, only the hand painted one Project Respect.

The Evergreen Negro Cemetery contains the remains of soldiers who fought and died for this country 's freedom during a time of segregation and discrimination. If one was black, the only option he or she had for a final resting place was a cemetery designated for Negros regardless of his or her socioeconomic status or contributions and sacrifices made to fight for freedom in this country and overseas.

The current condition of this historic site and city treasure is truly a disgrace to the City of Houston and the African American Community. If the City of Houston could afford to develop and expand Lockwood Drive through the center of the cemetery in 1960, truly in 2014, it could afford to have the cemetery restored. In February 2023, dead bodies were discovered in the median of Lockwood Drive.

If one visits the Veteran Memorial Cemetery, there are a few things a visitor will not find-unmarked graves, headstones covered with weeds, broken headstones, dug up graves, sinking graves, handmade signs, dead reefs, weeds, or broken fences. The Veterans Memorial Cemetery is perfectly maintained and secured to honor our veterans. There are onsite staff and care takers to ensure that it is maintained to the highest level possible. The graves are well tended and the landscape is beautiful and grassy.

Shouldn't all veterans have a final resting place just as well tended with beautiful grassy landscape?

Memorial Day 2014

Wed, 28 May 2014 00:16:55 GMT

Honoring our heroes who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. We salute you and pay respect to you and your family for your sacrifice with the greatest gift of all!!! On May 26, 2014, Memorial Day over a thousand men, women, and children gathered at Houston National Veteran's Cemetery to honor and pay tribute to the soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure people living in the United States are free. Military leaders along with local, state, and federal government officials addressed the families, friends, and troops in attendance.

http://priscillagraham.zenfolio.com/memorialday2014