By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
Inclement weather did little to dim the enthusiasm of Callandret family descendants and other attendees who gathered Saturday morning at the site of what was colloquially called the, “Joe Callandret Colored School,” located at 305 Doherty St., San Benito, for the presentation and unveiling of its Texas Historical Commission Marker.
Today, the grounds, which remain San Benito CISD property, and the brick building which sits on those grounds, serves as the Callandret Black History Museum, the only black history museum south of San Antonio, preserving the the area’s rich African American History.
As previously reported, according to San Benito Historical Society (SBHS) representatives, the San Benito Economic Development Corporation (SBEDC) was instrumental in providing funds to the SBHS to make the marker a reality.
The Feb. 17 marker dedication and unveiling ceremony began the 2024 Black History Month Celebration with a tour of the black school museum prior to the marker’s unveiling.
Among the speakers at the ceremony was former student of the Callandret Colored School, and San Benito native son, Willie Earl Smith from Austin. “The Man with a Patch,” as Smith is called, gained national attention when he was invited to the second inauguration of President Barak Obama. A portrait of Smith with Obama is prominently featured at the museum.
When then Senator Obama was campaigning for President of the United States in Austin, he and Smith met while the Senator stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel where Smith was head of security.
Smith operated the hotel elevator utilized by Senator Obama. Smith felt compelled to gift then Senator Obama his U.S. Army Airborne Ranger patch worn on his uniform during the Vietnam War, and asked him to keep the patch because it had given Smith good luck for 40 years. Smith said that he wanted to share his good fortune with the budding Senator.
After President Obama was elected for a second term, the President recalled his encounter with Smith and extended an invitation to the inauguration and to a private meeting with him in the Oval Office. Smith, who was raised in the El Jardin neighborhood and attended this all-black, segregated school, was the guest of the President.
Callandret descendant and San Benito native Lonnie Davis and his friends recall teacher Myrtle Faye Jackson’s strict classroom management and credit her for his early education. “I knew I was going to get a whipping every time Mrs. Jackson came to dinner because my grandmother always asked her about my behavior at school,” Davis recalls.
“The house where I was born is still standing on Winchell Street in the El Jardin neighborhood of San Benito. That’s Freddy Fender’s old barrio, and I remember him well. We all played together outside, but when it came to school, we separated,” he added.
Those memories, and the support of his lifelong friends, inspire Davis to organize yearly events to observe Black History Month, adding that he’s part of a planning committee preparing to bring the famed Buffalo Soldiers to Brownsville this summer in celebration of Juneteenth.
After Saturday’s dedication ceremony, Davis led a tour of the block adjacent to the school grounds where the Callandrets settled and built homes, many which still stand today. He eventually arrived at his boyhood home on Winchell. Standing in front of it, he lamented that while there may not have been many segregation polices on paper, racism against blacks indeed existed in San Benito, adding that the Callandrets and other “negro” families of the time were not allowed to bury their kin within city limits, leaving African Americans to lay their family members to rest in Harlingen.
Davis, 83, also explained that local black students at that time wishing to pursue their education onto high school traveled to nearby Harlingen, where they attended Booker T. Washington High School, designated for black students. San Benito High School, along with other area public schools, were segregated until 1958.
Davis’s journey as not only the first black athlete on the Harlingen Cardinals’ Varsity Football Team, but one of the first black high school football players in the Valley to play on an integrated public school squad is documented in the book, “Black Man in the Huddle: Stories from the Integration of Texas Football,” by Robert D. Jacobus.
Davis later joined the military and became a successful businessman, eventually starting Lonnie Davis & Associates, an insurance firm in Harlingen were he still can be found, toiling away the day.
After the dedication of the Historical Marker in San Benito, the public was invited to the Harlingen Convention Center for the continuation of the 2024 Black History Month Celebration which featured a luncheon and concluded with keynote, Harlingen native, Mary R. Benton, Director of Communications for Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
Benton, who began her career as a television news anchor, ensures all citywide communications align with the administration’s goals and objectives and oversees all functions of the mayor’s communications office, including public and media relations, ceremonial documents, social media strategy, and compliance with the Texas Public Information Act. She is a Harlingen High School graduate, Class of 1983.
Recent Comments