Special to the NEWS
What was meant to be a small gathering of friends exchanging memories several years ago has become a yearly conference focusing on the black history of Cameron County, mainly San Benito and Harlingen, where Lonnie Davis was born and now lives.
“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,” Davis recalled.
Sandra Tumberlinson of the San Benito Historical Society reported, “A wooden building by the railroad tracks was constructed in 1921 by the San Benito school district and, until it blew away in the 1933 hurricane, was the only school for San Benito’s and Harlingen’s black children.”
Davis and his friends recalled 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,” recalled Davis.
Those “good” memories, and the support of his lifelong friends, inspired Davis to organize yearly events to observe Black History Month. In previous years, topics for the annual affair have ranged from Buffalo Soldiers to exploring personalities like Harriet Tubman and Dr. Carter, the teacher at Booker T. Washington Black School in Harlingen.
Harlingen City Manager Gabriel Gonzales coordinated with Davis along with The Callandret Black History Museum of San Benito to make the 2022 event a success. “I’m also very grateful for the support given by Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell to this project every year. We both have much in common: both born in San Benito and both became successful businessmen in Harlingen,” Davis said.
The Hilton Garden Inn Convention Center meeting room overflowed with many observing from the lounge area as Rev. Sesya Wyach began the program with an invocation followed by youth from Corinth Missionary Baptist Church reciting passages and performing a musical number. They were followed by the Honorable Mayor Chris Boswell who read the City’s proclamation for Black History Month accepted by Brittany Joseph Garcia, former Treasure Hills Elementary Teacher of the Year, 2020.
Master of Ceremony, former Harlingen board member, George McShan, introduced the 2022 conference guest, Dr. Michael Hurd. A native Houstonian, writer and historian who currently serves as the Director of Prairie View A&M University’s Texas Institute for the Preservation of History and Culture, Dr. Hurd is an Air Force Vietnam Veteran recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal, and a graduate in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
The documentation of 500 years of black history in Texas encompass his latest projects. He has authored three books, most recently, “Thursday Night Lights: The Story of Black High School Football in Texas.” His groundbreaking first book, “Black College Football, 1892-1992,” is the only book that comprehensively documents the history of football programs at historically black colleges. According to the Texas Historical Commission, “The book was a primary source in 1996 when the National Football Foundation began inducting black college players to the College Football Hall of Fame.”
Dr. Hurd’s research focusing on the large number of black residents who lived in Mexico and this area in the 16th-19th centuries, added statistical records to the local history of the area and its residents. After concluding his address, Dr. Hurd was presented a traditional Mexican sombrero and serape with a bag of Valley grown grapefruit.
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