The first school for Black children in the Tyler area
The city’s 2000 National Register documentation says the first school for African American children in the Tyler area was established in the late 1860s with help from the Freedmen’s Bureau and the American Missionary Society and, attacked and threatened, survived a few years.
The Handbook of Texas says Tyler became a Freedmen’s Bureau subdistrict headquarters in 1867 and that in June 1868 White citizens attacked children at the year-old Black school in Tyler, forcing its temporary suspension.
Note
Neither source says the accounts describe the same school.
Sources
- National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form: Historic and Architectural Resources of Tyler, Texas (Diane E. Williams, 2000; THC Atlas)atlas.thc.texas.gov
The first school for African American children in the Tyler area was established in the late 1860s with help from the Freedmen's Bureau and the American Missionary Society.
Attacked and threatened by unidentified assailants, the school survived for a few years.
- Handbook of Texas: Smith Countytshaonline.org
In 1867 Tyler became the headquarters of a subdistrict of the Freedmen's Bureau
In June 1868 White citizens attacked schoolchildren attending the year-old Black school in Tyler, forcing temporary suspension of the school.
Checked October 15, 2026. How the cards are filed