Named after educator Wesley H. Passon (1864-1933), who in 1907 wrote what is believed to be the first published history focused on African Americans in Austin, the society was formed in 1975 to preserve related materials and sites. This list of African American Historic Places in Texas is based on a book by the National Park Service, The Preservation Press, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. After he died, Laura Allman Frazier, his widow, operated the house as lodging for African American students and travelers who were excluded from white-owned hotels in Austin during the Jim Crow era. Overdue but still utterly necessary, the Texas African American History Memorial was installed on the state Capitol grounds in 2016. Themes: African American Heritage; Historic Jails; Museums; World War II; Location. Volunteers generously give their time and resources to help preserve our cultural history. Across the country, a number of compelling museums, monuments, and landmark trails commemorate significant moments in African American history—both the traumatic and the triumphant. The building has also been an important site in recent history. After secession and during reconstruction, federal intervention was required once again to insure the protection of civil rights in Texas, ushering in an era that saw African Americans helping the Texas economy recover from the Civil War, serving in the state legislature, and helping to guide the state toward a freer, more democratic society. Others have Texas historical markers (HM). It became a Texas Historic Landmark in 1972 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. 3. More precise locations are given in the reference. They were the first housing projects built for African Americans under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 and, as with Santa Rita and Chalmers Courts a few blocks north, future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson played a key role in their development when he was still a U.S. congressman. A post shared by ATX Barrio Archive (@atx_barrio_archive) on Jul 6, 2017 at 12:21pm PDT. 6. Her contributions included raising money for renovation, creating the museum, acquiring most of its artifacts and leading the effort to obtain a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation for the building. In Austin, the college was originally housed in what is now Wesley United Methodist Church. The first African-American person to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction (1966-72), the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the South (1972-78), and the first woman to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention (Democratic Convention 1976 and again in 1992), Barbara Jordan was a groundbreaker, a powerful orator, and a force of nature. Passon Historical Society, 1501 E. 12th St., was formed in 1975 to preserve materials, artifacts and historic sites pertaining to African American culture. There are many, so please let us know what we missed in the comments. Early histories of Africa considered it the ‘Dark Continent’, both in the sense of the color of its people, but also for its lack of known civilizations. The building is currently owned by the city of Austin’s Neighborhood Conservation and Development department and serves as the office for the Anderson Community Development Corporation. Your donation helps us share the African American story which is American history. Austin is home to several historical landmarks reflective of African American history worth visiting: 1. African American Catholics formed their own distinct congregation here in 1888 under the leadership of Father Martin Francis Huhn, who conducted Mass in the same log building once used by the original settlers and slaves. One of the city’s first schools for black children, it was relocated to Olive and Curve streets in 1907, adding high school grades and renamed E.H. Anderson High School. In 1878, Samuel Huston College moved to Austin from Dallas, where the Ku Klux Klan had burned down its building. Their success was short-lived, however, as segregation established a grip on the state that wouldn't be released for another 60 years. The first African-American person to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction (1966-72), the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the South (1972-78), and the first woman to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention (Democratic Convention 1976 and again in 1992), Barbara Jordan was a groundbreaker, a powerful orator, and a force of nature. A post shared by Now Playing Austin (@nowplayingaustin) on Jan 16, 2019 at 11:14am PST. Then located on San Bernard Street where Wesley United Church now stands, it was the first institution of higher learning in Austin. Email us at admin@saaacam.org to get more information. The Carver Public Library was Austin’s first, and the museum next door is an important expansion of that foundational legacy. The group was instrumental in the struggle to desegregate public schools and win equal rights and wages for African American teachers throughout Texas. In 1853, the building was sold, which sent the 90 Methodists - including 30 slaves and servants - to a brick building and 10th and Brazos streets. The former of home of the Kate and Michael Connelly family, who built it was built in 1904, the small pink house stands out on East 12th Street as one of the few remaining homes of its time, one once surrounded by many similar houses. It’s full of Austin and Texas history—you will see the names of its residents on some of the surrounding streets, as well as in accounts of the Battle of the Alamo—big trees, and lovely monuments. In 1953, a new Anderson High School opened at on Thompson Street but closed in 1971 as part of a court-ordered desegregation plan. Burial Ground: Exploring African American Resting Places Virtual Discussion. Bethany Cemetery was established in the 1800s on the 1300 block of Springdale Road. 183, Participant in the Texas Historical Commission's, Visit Texas Time Travel to Explore Heritage Travel Statewide, 1891 Brunson Building/Live Oak Art Center, 1940 Air Terminal Museum at William P. Hobby Airport, Barrington Plantation State Historic Site, Bastrop County Historical Society Museum and Visitor Center, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens/ Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, City by the Sea Museum and La Petite Belle Homeport, Fort Bend County Heritage Unlimited Museum, Fort Sam Houston - Fort Sam Houston Museum, U.S. Army Medical Department Museum, Randolph Army Airfield, Goliad State Park/ Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuñiga State Historic Site, Gulf Prairie Presbyterian Church & Cemetery, Independence Baptist Church and Texas Baptist Museum, Julia Ideson Building (Houston Public Library) Murals, King William and Lavaca Historic Districts, Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site, Lone Star Flight Museum at Ellington Joint Reserve Base, Matagorda Island Wildlife Management Area, Mexican Cultural Institute (Instituto Cultural de Mexico), Mission Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga, Tonkawa Bank Site, Museum of Southern History at Houston Baptist University, National United States Armed Forces Museum, Paul Quinn African Methodist Episcopal Church, Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, San Antonio Genealogical & Historical Society Library, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, Sweet Home Vocational and Agricultural School, Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center, The Alamo (Mission San Antonio de Valero), Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site, Washington Cemetery (part of Glenwood Cemetery), Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, http://texastimetravel.com/travel-themes/main-african-american-heritage. Although tours of the collection inside the building are currently unavailable, the Gothic Revival house—a National Register of Historic Places site—and the outdoor sculptures are worth a look. In the late 1840s, the Spann family, settlers from South Carolina, brought slaves to the area. A completely decontextualized L.C. After his death, his widow, Laura Allman Frazier, operated the house as lodging for African American students and travelers during the segregated Jim Crow era. Volunteers play a crucial role in SAAACAM’s heritage tourism development and are a vital component of our collaboration with the community. Dr. Charles Yerwood bought the house in 1926 and opened a practice at 421 E. Sixth St. in the late 1920s. By the mid-1800s, slavery played an important role in Texas' economic development and, in fact, enslaved African Americans comprised 30 percent of the state's population by 1860. In 1953, a new Anderson High School opened at 900 Thompson St. but closed in 1971 as part of a court-ordered desegregation plan. The family of Ella Mae Pease purchased it for her use as a hair salon in 1972, and it became a social center for the the neighborhood. In 1952, the two merged to become Huston Tillotson College. The citation on historical markers is given in the reference. The old church's bell hangs in the belfry of the current church.