Prairie View
Texas
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City of Prairie View
History:
The Beginning:
Frontiers are constant, ever evolving and ever expanding in response to a consistent engagement of the unknown region, (real or abstract) just beyond. The indigenous inhabitants of the land that we now know as Prairie View, Texas, must have first viewed it as a vast, pristine wilderness frontier abounding in diverse species of animal and plant life ideal for the preservation of life. Likewise, the Spanish Explorers and maybe even their African Moorish slave, Esteban, in 1528, experienced these plentiful environs and dreamed of the possibilities to obtain wealth and power.
Under the flag of Mexico, this frontier was both an opportunity and a threat, as the offer to settle the land was extended to other ethnic groups to help develop. This move, evolved into a classic Trojan Horse maneuver that resulted in the eventual conquest of the land. The Anglo Colonists that settled on this frontier, at the invitation of Mexico, became Catholic Mexican Citizens. Many of them had no intention of being loyal to the government of this foreign country and may have had thoughts of expanding the western frontier of the United States to the Pacific Ocean via Texas. And the African slaves, held in bondage by many of these new settlers, cleared away the wilderness frontier to help develop farming enterprises and performed a major role in making the bottom lands of the Brazos River the first cotton capital of Texas. These new African Texans also harbored notions of a new day on the frontier of human freedom and equality.
Prairie View as an idea, a physical place or an institution has always been on the leading edge, at the point of change. The Slave Plantations of the Brazos Valley constituted the state's first major cotton-growing region and was its economic hub. This hub, now Prairie View, is the community where the first railroad tracks were laid before they reached the terminus in Hempstead. Within the arch of two 25 miles radius from Prairie View, one that extends south to Austin's first settlement at San Felipe and the other northwest to the state capitol at Old Washington on the Brazos, the drama of Texas History unfolded.
From Stephen F. Austin's colonial headquarters, to Groce's Ferry and the crossing of the Brazos by General Sam Houston and the Texan Soldiers, to the convening of the first Congress of the Republic of Texas at Old Washington, Prairie View was on this frontier of change. It was in these environs that several major Confederate Generals, still reeling from the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, withdrew to discuss some of the final offensive strategies of the Civil War. And, it was the unique positioning of the environs of Prairie View that enticed General George Armstrong Custer to locate his headquarters here. It was also the place where his Union Calvary Troops delivered the word that African slavery was over. Whether it was on this new frontier of an attempt at cultural change in the south and the use of education, as a major catalysis in this change process, which resulted in the establishment of the first state supported institution of higher education for African-American youths. Prairie View has always found itself on the frontier, at the point of change.
The journey of a people can often be best chronicled in the history of their institutions either public or private. The span of years of an institution far outdistances those of the average human being and better enables them to serve as the embodiment of the visions, hopes and struggles arising from the collective will of the people. The history of the City of Prairie View, Texas, as a community of families or as an incorporated municipal institution, is a reflection of the influences that the various political, social and economic power matrixes at the local, county, state and national levels have had in shaping its cultural environment and consequently its story. The writing of this version of its history is not intended to be comprehensive but merely a stream of human activity on the land and the evolution of the cultural environment.
Laying Out the Frontier:
The history of the City of Prairie View is inextricably linked to the history of Prairie View A&M University. In order to better understand the dynamics inherent in the growth of the city, the university, as a state supported institution, must provide the frame of reference. The venerable Dr. George Ruble Woolfolk, in his introduction to "The First Seventy-five Years 1876 - 1951 Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas", described the spirit of an institution as a compound of many elements. He said, "...an institution is an empty thing without the beating hearts and yearning souls of mortal men. And down the ... years of Prairie View's existence, men have lived and dreamed here until every blade of grass and every rock, in that wise primordial way in which the primitive earth knows and cares, has joined the choir invisible to bless their memory. For every man whose foot has touched this hallowed soil has found a spirit, and has broadened and deepened it until what started out as an ambitionless meandering stream has become a purposeful river upon whose tide, now turbulent, now tranquil, floats the destiny of countless human hopes and dreams.
The humble student, from every nook and cranny in the land, has left the echo of his laughter upon the wind, his hopes within the lurking shadows of our halls and by-ways. The giants, the world-shakers, have stood on our hill to mingle their search for truth with the fledgling's hopes for life. And men of dedication have worked to bring a new heaven and a new earth often with only faith and their hands-often without the spiritual or material compensation that their sacrifices merited-but always with a sense of mission-with a sense that somehow, someway, time would reward their efforts-would give to those to whom they had given their minds the victory of a new world-of an enlightened society."
Public Policy within the United States and the southern States in particular, prior to 1865, made it illegal for Africans held in bondage as slaves to receive an education. Punishment for teaching Negro (African) slaves to read and write varied in its degree of severity. The older south, according to Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, in his book, Souls of Black Folks, "believed that somewhere between man and cattle, God created this "tertium quid" and called it a Negro. A clownish, simple creature yet loveable within his limitations." Dubois continued, "That behind this thought, lurked a sinister after thought in the mind of slave owners, that perhaps by chance some of the Negroes might become men. So out of the sheer need for self-preservation, we (the old south) can dare not let them. We must build around them a wall so high and place between them and the light a veil so thick, that they dare not think of breaking through."
It is evident from the historical record, that the public policies both before and after the civil war, especially the Jim Crow Laws, were designed to institutionalize inferiority and make permanent the caste status of African Americans in Texas. Not only did African Americans living in Texas and the South have to deal with laws (public policies) specifically tailored to circumscribe their particular sub-culture, but they also were affected by the dynamics arising from a reshaping of the total cultural milieu of the Old South itself and its legacy of war and bloodshed to preserve its way of life.
Again, Dr. George R. Woolfolk, in his book "Prairie View, A Study in Public Conscience" states, "That political and economic dominance within the arena of national power, by any group or groups can lead to a cultural aggression, designed to alter or reshape the total cultural milieu of the vanquished. The northern capitalist and the political machine of the Republican party, emerging victorious after the civil war, systematically stripped the southern Democrats of place and power in the south and used "education as that technique for social control deemed necessary to usher in the new industrial order."
Public policy was changed in the south, but culture was slow to change, especially with the white south being openly hostile to change perceived to come from the outside, and the resolve of the white northerners wavering in their degree of commitment.
One of the most difficult outcomes of freedom for African Americans to deal with was the transmutation process itself (the move from slave to wage earner). This process gave rise to a broader social class-consciousness. An expanded class conscience was coupled with the ever attendant, so called "Willie Lynch Syndrome", still evident from the ante-bellum era, as a result of the slave masters deliberately teaching their slaves to hate and mistrust one another. The African Americans' Texas culture was inculcated with this thinking.
Founding of the Incorporated City:
During the early years of the administration of Dr. A.I. Thomas, preparations were begun to incorporate the area adjacent to the college into The City of Prairie View, Texas. A university committee, chaired by Dr. C.L. Wilson, was tasked by President Thomas to move the incorporation process forward. The farmers, led by Eristus Sams, were concerned that their interest would be subverted, organized for action. The articles of incorporation were approved in February 1969 for a city of 5000 citizens. The winning slate of candidates in the 1969 election were: Dr. Wardell Thompson - Mayor, Dr. Ernest Norris - Council Member, Mr. Eristus Sams - Council Member, Dr. Thomas P. Dooley - Council Member, E. E. Mathis - Council Member, O. J. Thomas - Council Member and Osborne Clark - City Marshall. The City's Secretary was Mrs. Vickie Perkins. "The Prairie View City News was established during the spring of 1969 as a bi-monthly newspaer. The 1970 Census reduced the population of the City to 3,589 mainly because the College students did not all record their residence as Prairie View. In 1970, Prairie View consisted of the Waller I.SD. Junior High School, a Catholic Church, an Episcopal Church, a Methodist Church, a Baptist Church, and a Church of God in Christ. The City had two gas stations, a bus station, a beauty parlor, a barbershop, a grocery store, and a cafeteria. The St. Francis Episcopal Church, established in 1870, was originally located in Hempstead. It was moved to its present location in 1958.
The major portion of the City received its water from the PVAMU College system and a small segment returns it sewage to the College disposal plant. San Bernard Electric Cooperative and Houston Power and Light supply electric power. Gas is supplied by the Town of Waller, and telephones by Southwestern Bell. The post office and Western Union offices were on the campus and the City Hall was located initially in spaces rented from the Norris Bus Station and later space was rented in the Henderson's Business Center on University Drive, in the heart of town. The City at its founding was dependent on the College for fire protection, ambulance service, and medical service.
In 1970, Eristus Sams was elected Mayor, and the Council Members were Curtis A. Wood, Thomas P. Dooley, Ernest M. Norris, and E. E. Mathis. The City Marshall continued to be Osborne Clark. The election results of 1971 reflected a constituent call for change. The outcomes are as follows: Mayor - Eristus Sams and Council Members Edward B. Evans, Donald Sowell, James R. Muse, Theodore R. Lawson and Roland Dreahn (first non African-American member of the City Council).
The Beginning:
Frontiers are constant, ever evolving and ever expanding in response to a consistent engagement of the unknown region, (real or abstract) just beyond. The indigenous inhabitants of the land that we now know as Prairie View, Texas, must have first viewed it as a vast, pristine wilderness frontier abounding in diverse species of animal and plant life ideal for the preservation of life. Likewise, the Spanish Explorers and maybe even their African Moorish slave, Esteban, in 1528, experienced these plentiful environs and dreamed of the possibilities to obtain wealth and power.
Under the flag of Mexico, this frontier was both an opportunity and a threat, as the offer to settle the land was extended to other ethnic groups to help develop. This move, evolved into a classic Trojan Horse maneuver that resulted in the eventual conquest of the land. The Anglo Colonists that settled on this frontier, at the invitation of Mexico, became Catholic Mexican Citizens. Many of them had no intention of being loyal to the government of this foreign country and may have had thoughts of expanding the western frontier of the United States to the Pacific Ocean via Texas. And the African slaves, held in bondage by many of these new settlers, cleared away the wilderness frontier to help develop farming enterprises and performed a major role in making the bottom lands of the Brazos River the first cotton capital of Texas. These new African Texans also harbored notions of a new day on the frontier of human freedom and equality.
Prairie View as an idea, a physical place or an institution has always been on the leading edge, at the point of change. The Slave Plantations of the Brazos Valley constituted the state's first major cotton-growing region and was its economic hub. This hub, now Prairie View, is the community where the first railroad tracks were laid before they reached the terminus in Hempstead. Within the arch of two 25 miles radius from Prairie View, one that extends south to Austin's first settlement at San Felipe and the other northwest to the state capitol at Old Washington on the Brazos, the drama of Texas History unfolded.
From Stephen F. Austin's colonial headquarters, to Groce's Ferry and the crossing of the Brazos by General Sam Houston and the Texan Soldiers, to the convening of the first Congress of the Republic of Texas at Old Washington, Prairie View was on this frontier of change. It was in these environs that several major Confederate Generals, still reeling from the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, withdrew to discuss some of the final offensive strategies of the Civil War. And, it was the unique positioning of the environs of Prairie View that enticed General George Armstrong Custer to locate his headquarters here. It was also the place where his Union Calvary Troops delivered the word that African slavery was over. Whether it was on this new frontier of an attempt at cultural change in the south and the use of education, as a major catalysis in this change process, which resulted in the establishment of the first state supported institution of higher education for African-American youths. Prairie View has always found itself on the frontier, at the point of change.
The journey of a people can often be best chronicled in the history of their institutions either public or private. The span of years of an institution far outdistances those of the average human being and better enables them to serve as the embodiment of the visions, hopes and struggles arising from the collective will of the people. The history of the City of Prairie View, Texas, as a community of families or as an incorporated municipal institution, is a reflection of the influences that the various political, social and economic power matrixes at the local, county, state and national levels have had in shaping its cultural environment and consequently its story. The writing of this version of its history is not intended to be comprehensive but merely a stream of human activity on the land and the evolution of the cultural environment.
Laying Out the Frontier:
The history of the City of Prairie View is inextricably linked to the history of Prairie View A&M University. In order to better understand the dynamics inherent in the growth of the city, the university, as a state supported institution, must provide the frame of reference. The venerable Dr. George Ruble Woolfolk, in his introduction to "The First Seventy-five Years 1876 - 1951 Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas", described the spirit of an institution as a compound of many elements. He said, "...an institution is an empty thing without the beating hearts and yearning souls of mortal men. And down the ... years of Prairie View's existence, men have lived and dreamed here until every blade of grass and every rock, in that wise primordial way in which the primitive earth knows and cares, has joined the choir invisible to bless their memory. For every man whose foot has touched this hallowed soil has found a spirit, and has broadened and deepened it until what started out as an ambitionless meandering stream has become a purposeful river upon whose tide, now turbulent, now tranquil, floats the destiny of countless human hopes and dreams.
The humble student, from every nook and cranny in the land, has left the echo of his laughter upon the wind, his hopes within the lurking shadows of our halls and by-ways. The giants, the world-shakers, have stood on our hill to mingle their search for truth with the fledgling's hopes for life. And men of dedication have worked to bring a new heaven and a new earth often with only faith and their hands-often without the spiritual or material compensation that their sacrifices merited-but always with a sense of mission-with a sense that somehow, someway, time would reward their efforts-would give to those to whom they had given their minds the victory of a new world-of an enlightened society."
Public Policy within the United States and the southern States in particular, prior to 1865, made it illegal for Africans held in bondage as slaves to receive an education. Punishment for teaching Negro (African) slaves to read and write varied in its degree of severity. The older south, according to Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, in his book, Souls of Black Folks, "believed that somewhere between man and cattle, God created this "tertium quid" and called it a Negro. A clownish, simple creature yet loveable within his limitations." Dubois continued, "That behind this thought, lurked a sinister after thought in the mind of slave owners, that perhaps by chance some of the Negroes might become men. So out of the sheer need for self-preservation, we (the old south) can dare not let them. We must build around them a wall so high and place between them and the light a veil so thick, that they dare not think of breaking through."
It is evident from the historical record, that the public policies both before and after the civil war, especially the Jim Crow Laws, were designed to institutionalize inferiority and make permanent the caste status of African Americans in Texas. Not only did African Americans living in Texas and the South have to deal with laws (public policies) specifically tailored to circumscribe their particular sub-culture, but they also were affected by the dynamics arising from a reshaping of the total cultural milieu of the Old South itself and its legacy of war and bloodshed to preserve its way of life.
Again, Dr. George R. Woolfolk, in his book "Prairie View, A Study in Public Conscience" states, "That political and economic dominance within the arena of national power, by any group or groups can lead to a cultural aggression, designed to alter or reshape the total cultural milieu of the vanquished. The northern capitalist and the political machine of the Republican party, emerging victorious after the civil war, systematically stripped the southern Democrats of place and power in the south and used "education as that technique for social control deemed necessary to usher in the new industrial order."
Public policy was changed in the south, but culture was slow to change, especially with the white south being openly hostile to change perceived to come from the outside, and the resolve of the white northerners wavering in their degree of commitment.
One of the most difficult outcomes of freedom for African Americans to deal with was the transmutation process itself (the move from slave to wage earner). This process gave rise to a broader social class-consciousness. An expanded class conscience was coupled with the ever attendant, so called "Willie Lynch Syndrome", still evident from the ante-bellum era, as a result of the slave masters deliberately teaching their slaves to hate and mistrust one another. The African Americans' Texas culture was inculcated with this thinking.
Founding of the Incorporated City:
During the early years of the administration of Dr. A.I. Thomas, preparations were begun to incorporate the area adjacent to the college into The City of Prairie View, Texas. A university committee, chaired by Dr. C.L. Wilson, was tasked by President Thomas to move the incorporation process forward. The farmers, led by Eristus Sams, were concerned that their interest would be subverted, organized for action. The articles of incorporation were approved in February 1969 for a city of 5000 citizens. The winning slate of candidates in the 1969 election were: Dr. Wardell Thompson - Mayor, Dr. Ernest Norris - Council Member, Mr. Eristus Sams - Council Member, Dr. Thomas P. Dooley - Council Member, E. E. Mathis - Council Member, O. J. Thomas - Council Member and Osborne Clark - City Marshall. The City's Secretary was Mrs. Vickie Perkins. "The Prairie View City News was established during the spring of 1969 as a bi-monthly newspaer. The 1970 Census reduced the population of the City to 3,589 mainly because the College students did not all record their residence as Prairie View. In 1970, Prairie View consisted of the Waller I.SD. Junior High School, a Catholic Church, an Episcopal Church, a Methodist Church, a Baptist Church, and a Church of God in Christ. The City had two gas stations, a bus station, a beauty parlor, a barbershop, a grocery store, and a cafeteria. The St. Francis Episcopal Church, established in 1870, was originally located in Hempstead. It was moved to its present location in 1958.
The major portion of the City received its water from the PVAMU College system and a small segment returns it sewage to the College disposal plant. San Bernard Electric Cooperative and Houston Power and Light supply electric power. Gas is supplied by the Town of Waller, and telephones by Southwestern Bell. The post office and Western Union offices were on the campus and the City Hall was located initially in spaces rented from the Norris Bus Station and later space was rented in the Henderson's Business Center on University Drive, in the heart of town. The City at its founding was dependent on the College for fire protection, ambulance service, and medical service.
In 1970, Eristus Sams was elected Mayor, and the Council Members were Curtis A. Wood, Thomas P. Dooley, Ernest M. Norris, and E. E. Mathis. The City Marshall continued to be Osborne Clark. The election results of 1971 reflected a constituent call for change. The outcomes are as follows: Mayor - Eristus Sams and Council Members Edward B. Evans, Donald Sowell, James R. Muse, Theodore R. Lawson and Roland Dreahn (first non African-American member of the City Council).