Sometimes their picture speaks louder than their words. 

“I am not an educator, but an awakener” — Robert Frost

During the Jim Crow period, educational opportunities for Blacks in the South were minimal at best and non existent for most. Black schooling faced limited funding, inadequate resources, and systematic racism. There were communities, however, who created ways to educate themselves and their children. There were also educators who went above and beyond to not only teach but also to encourage and motivate their students. Here are a few examples of those educators: 

James Colon “J. C.” Frazier 
1872-1960

Hardin County, Texas’ only Rosenwald school was built between 1921 and 1922 in Silsbee, Texas. James Colon "J. C." Frazier was hired to serve as principal of the new school. Before the Rosenwald school was built, Black students were taught at Silsbee’s First Missionary Baptist Church by Professors Waldo Mathews. Frazier and Mathew’s’ worked together to educate African American students in Hardin County. A high school was built in the 1930s and named after Waldo Matthews. Professor Frazier was principal until his death in 1960. 

Viola Southwell Tukes at Rock Hill School with her husband, Ambros Tukes

Viola Southwell Tukes, educated at Prarie View A&M, taught elementary school at Rock Hill Elementary School, a Rosenwald school  located in Jasper County, Texas. In 1955 Jasper Independent School District consolidated all "Colored" schools east of Highway 63 with J. H. Rowe schools. Viola continued her teaching career at J. H. Rowe Elementary. Viola Southwell Tukes often encouraged her students by telling them, "Every one of you is going to college." Many of them did. 

Built between 1920 and 1921, the Rock Hill school building is one of the few Rosenwald schools still in existence. It is owned and maintained by Rock Hill Baptist Church and is used by the church as a dining hall. 

Frank Bryant, Sr. 
1894-1943

Frank Bryant was a veteran of World War I. After the war he became a teacher and later a principal at a Rosenwald school in Sabine County, Texas. 

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Isaac Janes “Ike” Gilder became principal of Colmensneil  Colored School in Colmensneil, Texas in 1909. It started in a small log structure shared with a church. Later the school grew to a furnished three room building. Gilder then led the construction of two additional classrooms and indoor restrooms. For his efforts the school was named Gilder High School in his honor. James Isaac Gilder retired in 1949. His daughter, Helen Ellamae Gilder (1915-2000), continued the family teaching legacy. She taught in the Colmensneil school district until her retirement and later was a member of the Retired Teachers Association of Tyler County.

 

 What’s In A Name?

African American genealogy is a challenge. One of the many brick walls I’ve faced is surnames. Most enslaved individuals were denied an official surname prior to emancipation. To make matters worse, there was not a particular method of choosing a surname once they were freed. Sometimes surnames of former slave holders were chosen. In other cases surnames were assigned to them by government agencies. Members of the same family were often enslaved by different owners and labeled with that enslaver’s surnames. If the husband and wife had been on different plantations, the husband would sometimes assume the last name of his wife. These names were often changed in later years.  

One example of this in my family is the Ferrell/Brumley names. My 2x-great grandmother, her mother, and siblings were owned by James  “Ansel” Ferrell. The family was listed as Ferrells in the 1870 census. My 2x great grandmother kept the name until her marriage to in 1877.  Her mother also kept the Ferrell name until she married in 1876. By 1880, my 2x-great grandmother’s siblings had changed their surname to Bromery or Brumley.  

Another reason for surname confusion is the dialect of the time. The newly emancipated had no education so pronunciation of their last names was difficult and spelling was impossible. The name Limbrick was pronounced and spelled in several different ways: Limbrie, Limerick, Lembrick, Limrick (to name a few). 

My paternal 3x-great grandmother might be my biggest surname challenge. Her first name was Cintha, or Sintha, or Cynthia. Her maiden name was sometimes recorded as “Heirlough” and at other times as “Furlough”. Could it have been a mispronunciation or misspelling of the name “Furlow”? I have found some DNA connections to the Furlow family who orginated in Georgia and Mississippi and later settled in Louisiana.