Fidelity Manor High School

Fidelity Manor High School, a secondary school and the only African-American High School to ever exist in the Galena Park Independent School District in Galena Park, Texas, officially opened its doors in January 1955 under the direction of Principal Arthur C. Lilly. Galena Park Independent School District integrated the African-American population into Galena Park High School in 1970 and closed the doors on the Fidelity elementary and high school.

History

The history of Fidelity Manor High School predates its 1955 opening. Records, though sketchy, indicate that within Harris County Common School District, Clinton Colored School existed in District 16 as early as 1886 in what was then Clinton, Texas. Harris County Tax Levys, December 4, 1886, p. 15, Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Clinton, Texas renamed itself Galena Park, Texas in 1936 after it was discovered, while petitioning the federal government for a post office, that the name Clinton, Texas already existed. [ Ramirez, Mary, Galena Park, Texas March 2007.The Handbook of Texas Online. The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/hfg1.html ] From 1886 to about 1922, Clinton Colored School was joined by at least two other schools designated for African-American children: Greens Bayou. and Penn City [ Harris County School Accounts 1916-1917 District 16. Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] both educated black children. By 1916, District Sixteen’s Colored Schools had seen the teaching duties of black children shared between Gladys Washington, Edna Griffin and long-term educator Mrs. Edna Hubbard. [ Harris County School Accounts Texas. 1916-1917 District 16. Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Mrs. Hubbard’s husband O. L. Hubbard went on to found the first school in historic Independence Heights, Houston, Texas an incorporated community proposed for the settlement of blacks. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Heights,_Houston,_Texas.] By 1918 Rosa Young Yacome and Clara Jones were the only instructors in the Harris County Common School District 16 for the colored school children. [ Harris County School Accounts Texas. 1917-1919 District 16. Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Rosa Young Yacome, the highest paid African-American instructor at $50.00 a month, lived west of the Fidelity addition in 1920. [ Enumerator Lyon, David. Federal Census 1920. Enumeration District No. 108. Sheet 60. Voting Precinct 42, Justice Precinct 2.]

But, by 1922, a “Colored School” building was located near the corner of E Street and Main Street in the black enclave of the Clinton community and it's principal and only instructor was Ms. Freddie A. Emerson. [ Block 36, Lot # 9 and 10 Block Books 1922, vol. 38,pg. # 100, Assessor and Collector of Taxes, Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Teaching multiple grades surely was a daunting process, but it could not have been more difficult than it was for Ms. Freddie A. Emerson to get back and forth from her home in Harrisburg, Texas to Clinton in order to teach. [ Carr, Katherine A. Oral history interview September 13, 2007. Tapes and transcript are in possession of interviewer.] Daily she boarded a ferry in Harrisburg, Texas located on the south bank of the Buffalo Bayou, in order to cross the bayou to Clinton. She lived only a short walk to the ferry that was hand pulled to Johnson’s Landing Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins. Galena Park: The Community that Shaped its Own History. Clampitt Paper Company, 1993. p. 27] located on the north side of the bayou. From there she would take a well-worn footpath to the black quarters on South Main St. in Clinton. The white students who traveled to Harrisburg used this same route by ferry in order to get to Milby High School. [ Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins. Galena Park: The Community that Shaped its Own History. Clampitt Paper Company, 1993. p. 27.] Others used this traveling technique to get to Harrisburg and then caught a trolley in order to get to Houston.

Roger Leslie and Sue Elkins Edwards in their book "Galena Park: The Community that Shaped its own History" suggest that the white Clinton School building was relocated in 1924 to the Fidelity Addition. [ Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins. P. 27] A "Sentinel" newspaper staff writer states that the school was sold to a black church congregation and moved to an Ave D and Main Street location in the black quarters. [ The Sentinel, Thursday, September 30, 1965, Galena Park, section 1 p. 3.] However, Harris County Block Book records indicate that the Colored School on E Street and Main Street remained as a tax-exempt building until 1931 when one of the two lots that it occupied was sold. Galena Park Independent School District remained in control of lot 9. [ Block 36, Lot # 9 Block Books 1932, vol. 14,pg. # 99, Assessor and Collector of Taxes, Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] That same year records show that a school building became exempt from taxes on the Fidelity site on Bolden St. [ Block 21, Lot 7-14 and Lot 25-32, Block Books 1932, vol. 38,pg. # 114, Assessor and Collector of Taxes, Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Also, for the record a church, Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church, did exist on the corner of E Street and Main Street adjacent to the colored school. [ Block 36, Lot # 8 Block Books 1932, vol. 14, pg. # 99, Assessor and Collector of Taxes, Harris County Archives, Houston, Texas.] Regardless, whether folklore became mixed with actual history the Fidelity School did land on Bolden Street. Of great significance, is the fact that Galena Park Independent School District became official two years before, in 1930, and therefore the event of placing a facility at the Fidelity site became the second event in Galena Park Independent School District nurturing the education of African-American students in Galena Park. By virtue of Galena Park Independent School District owning the two lots on E Street and the fact that they were tax exempt suggest that GPISD or its antecedents had begun providing education to black children eight years before it became an independent school district.

That school housed eight grade levels and offered courses in science, reading, writing, math, agriculture, and home economics. [ Wilson, Josetta Boudreaux. Oral history interview October 12, 2007. Tapes and transcript are in possession of interviewer.] Teaching in a one-room schoolhouse would not have been anymore difficult than teaching in a separate room. The classes were no larger than twenty to thirty kids almost equally spread between each of the age groups. And all children were taught the same courses—reading writing and arithmetic. Children had near one-on-one instruction as they each had to approach the instructor’s desk and read directly to the instructor. Wilson, Joesetta Boudreaux] In 1931 Mrs. Emerson taught classes along with one other instructor, Laura Bailey. Galena Park Independent School District Board minutes September 1931. GPISD archives, Galena Park, Texas.]

The Fidelity School was now beginning to have growing pains. The GPISD school board authorized that a partition between two rooms of the school be removed. Mrs. Emerson was re-elected to the position of principal and Laura Bailey was also re-elected by the board. The board also authorized the superintendent to add one additional colored teacher to the Fidelity School. By 1937, the Galena Park Independent School District recognized that both the white and black school populations were growing still again. The district petitioned the state for a school bond election in the amount of $85,000, $1000 to $2000 of which would be used to add two rooms to the one-room Fidelity School. The old white elementary school was abandoned in 1938 when GPISD built a new facility. When subsequent improvements to the Fidelity school were needed, lumber from the abandoned white student school was utilized in adding two rooms to the one-room facility. [ Series 1937 Galena Park Independent School District Schoolhouse Bonds. Office of Attorney General of State of Texas. June 29, 1937.]

While much of the stability and growth of the Fidelity School was tethered to the growth and development of Clinton, Fidelity had additional problems inherent in the make up of the African-American community. The African-American community was splintered by the demographics of the area. One part of the black community was located in the southern portion of Clinton while the other was located several miles away in a thinly populated neighborhood along a two-block wide five-mile long stretch of road that was then called Burns Road. The Fidelity Addition took its name from the Fidelity Shipyard that was located a few hundred yards from Fidelity or Burns Road. To add to the diversity of those demographics, blacks also lived in section houses spread further west along Clinton Drive near McCarty Drive. Carr, Katherine Allum.] The males of these families worked for the railroad that was a part of the terminus along the port at Clinton, Texas.

By 1947 the African-American population had grown to a point that more teachers were employed to meet the educational needs of the black-student population. The hiring of Mr. Arthur C. Lilly in 1947 was significant because he would become the first and only principal of the junior/senior high school. Lilly, Arthur C. Oral history interview September 13, 2007. Tapes and transcripts are in possession of interviewer.] Mrs. Freddie Sandle had carried the lion’s share of the teaching burden for more than twenty years. Fidelity School was still an eight grade school, but by 1947 its physical plant had already been expanded to include ten classrooms, a library, an office, a band room, a softball field and a bus parking area.

Once students finished the eighth grade, they were bussed to Phillis Wheatley High School (Houston), located in Houston, Texas, to finish out their secondary education. Galena Park Independent School District in 1934 tackled this problem by passing a motion to pay Jason Humber $40.00 a month to transport the Negro high school children to Houston to attend high school that year. [ Galena Park Independent School District board minutes September 1934. GPISD archives, Texas.] Before 1949, students only had to finish the eleventh grade to get a high school diploma and most students who attended Wheatley from Fidelity had already taken algebra so they were skipped a grade.

The commuter system was a troublesome process, therefore Mr. Arthur C. Lilly, by letter, petitioned the Galena Park Independent School District to allow the school to add one grade a year until it attained the twelfth grade. Lilly, Arthur C.] In the 1953-1954 school year the first graduating class of five students matriculated from Fidelity School. The class of 1954 consisted of Nora Eagleton, Marie Nelson, Hilda Guillory, Effie Watts, and Calvin O. White.

While Fidelity grew in the number of grades, another factor led to the separation of the elementary and high schools. In 1951 the Galena Park City Council approved the development of a shopping center and a new subdivision of 330 homes priced between $7,400 and $8,000 and would be called the Galena Manor Addition. [ Houston Chronicle April 18, 1950 p. 5.] The subdivision was located immediately adjacent to the Fidelity neighborhood. Inasmuch as Galena Manor was the hyphen between the two black communities of Fidelity and the South Main Street area of Galena Park, its 330 new families gave a direct boost to the school’s population.Galena Park Independent School District ordered the building of two ultra-modern school buildings--the junior/senior high school and the elementary school. [ Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins, p. 207] The high school opened its doors in January 1955 and Mr. Arthur C. Lilly became its first and only principal. Built adjacent to the high school, the elementary school opened its doors in September 1956 and Mrs. Freddie Emerson Sandle, now the longest employed educator of the Fidelity Schools, became the Principal. After the retirement of Mrs. Freddie Sandle, after 1960, Mr. John T. Lane became the second principal of Fidelity Manor Elementary School.

1970 saw the closing of the doors to both the Fidelity Elementary and High Schools because of court ordered desegregation. Some of the teachers along with the black student population were integrated in the Galena Park schools. The long legacy of the Fidelity Schools came to a final end when after no consensus could be reached by the citizens of Galena Park on the fate of facility it was demolished in 1986. [ Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins, p. 36]

Notable Alumni

* Dr. Bryan G Lane-attended Fidelity Manor H S(thru- 1960)Principal, Lamar Consolidated I S D/Austin I S D/McNeese State University
*Craig Anthony Washington - Class of 1958. Former US Congressman [Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Washington]
*Margaret Rose Dorian Henry-Class of 1962. Delaware State Senator. Former Miss Fidelity 1961-1962.
* Dr Janice Jones,DDS, class of 1968, Graduate-Texas /Baylor College Of Denistry
* Jerod G Henderson,Colonel ,class of 1967,Career-Texas Dept Of Public Safety
*Dr. Calvin White - First male graduate of twelfth grade system of Fidelity School 1954. Former Fidelity Head Basketball Coach of 1964-65 District Champion
* Elbert Smith,Command Sergeant Major(class of 1967)Texas Army National Guard-Graduate:Military Police Academy/Armed Forces Staff College

*Wanda Heath Johnson - Class of 1968. President of Fidelity Manor Alumni Association. Former Elected Official of GPISD School Board [The Houston Chronicle. Section A p. 29. November 4, 1998. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1998_3095028]
*Joseph Thibodeaux-City Council Galena Park, Texas Position 2 Police and Fire Department. Attended Fidelity through tenth grade and graduate of Galena Park High School.
* Carla H Sandle-Class Of 1960-Graduate-U S Amy(WAC)
*Nelson Jones - Class of 1968. Naval Academy Graduate
*James Todd - Former NFL player
*Jacqueline Brannon Giles, Class of 1961. Former Governor at large, Mathematical Association of America (MAA), Minority Affairs; member, Board of Directors, National Association of Mathematicians (NAM), Two Year College Representative; member, Editorial Board, MAA FOCUS news magazine [Jewish Herald Voice. September 13, 2007.http://www.jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=96&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=3158&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com] [Mathematicians of the African Diaspora.http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/giles_jacquelineb.html] [ [http://jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=159&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=4233&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com Jewish Herald-Voice ] ] [ [http://www.maa.org/features/102705proofreview.html Proof: Three Reviews ] ] [ [http://www.interfaithfamily.com/relationships/interracial_and_intercultural_relationships/Pointed_Towards_Israel.shtml Pointed Towards Israel - InterfaithFamily.com ] ]
*James H. Ford Jr.- Class of 1965. Captain, USAF, Former President of Tennessee State University National Alumni Association, [ [http://www.tsu-alumni.org/pastpres.htm TSUNAA - Past National Alumni Presidents ] ] Former President Houston Storytellers Guild, [ [http://www.houstonstorytellers.org/history.htm Guild History ] ] Tejas Storytelling Association and Board Member National Storytelling Association.
*Myrtis Amos Gibbs - Class of 1932. One of four known graduates of the commuter school system. Phillis Wheatley/Fidelity School. Teacher at Fidelity Manor High School
* William C Simon-Class of 1967-F M H S-Tenn State University
*Josetta Boudreaux Wilson - Class of 1946. One of four known graduates of the commuter school system. Phillis Wheatley/Fidelity School. Graduate of Texas Southern and teacher at Fidelity School.
*Katherine Allum Carr - One of four known graduates of the commuter school system. Phillis Wheatley/Fidelity School. Graduate of Prairie View College and teacher at Fidelity School.
*Claudia Glenn Weaver - One of four known graduates of the commuter school system. Phillis Wheatley/Fidelity School. Teacher at Fidelity School.
*Dr. Carol Carter - Principal at La Marque High School, Principal-Clear Brook High School-Graduate 1967-Fidelity Manor High School
*Melba Howard Lewis Elder - Principal Green Valley Elementary School
*Linda Clark Sherrard - First African-American Principal in GPISD at North Shore High School. Attended Fidelity School through eleventh grade and one of the first African-American graduates of Galena Park High School.
*Patricia Avington Travis - Assistant Principal in GPISD and Director of Health Services.
* Charles Lee Webb -Former student Fidelity Manor H S-Houston Police Dept.

Notable Alumni War Casualty

*Leroy Spiller III-Class of 1965 Fidelity Manor High School. 21 Oct 1946-29 Aug 1967. Hostile casualty Republic of Vietnam, USMC (Rifleman) Lance Corporal. First casualty of Vietnam War.
* James Craft-Class of 1965 Fidelity Manor High School. 9 May 1947-16 Nov 1968. Non-Hostile casualty Republic of Vietnam, US Army (Specialist Fourth Class).

Notable Alumni Wounded In War Veteran

*Edward Champagne-Class of 1965 Fidelity Manor High School. DOB 8 Jan 1946-. Hostile wounded Republic of Vietnam, US Army.
*Robert Williams-Class of 1969?(unverified) -Wounded Republic Of Vietnam(1970) Purple Heart Recipient-Spc-U S Army- DOB(1951-1987) (death/ non military related) Siblings;attended Fidelity Manor H S 1.Alton Sparks 2.Frank Sparks

Background

Mascot - Black Panther

Colors - Purple and Gold

Miss Fidelity

*1955-1956 Myra Jones [ 1955 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1956-1957 Gloria Truscott [ 1957 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1957-1958 Margaret Dean Manning [ 1958 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1958-1959 Beverly Sandle Smith

*1959-1960 Bessie Ann Walker [ 1960 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". Taylor Publishing. p 35]

*1960-1961 Cheryl Stublefield
*1961-1962 Margaret Dorian [ 1962 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1962-1963 Arthuryne Lilly [ 1963 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". ]

*1963-1964 Joy Mackey [ 1964 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". .]

*1964-1965 Shirley Reescano [ 1965 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". Newsfoto 1965. p 43]

*1965-1966 Betty Bailey [ 1966 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1966-1967 Carol Carter [ 1967 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

*1967-1968 Marva Hurt [ 1968 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". ]

*1968-1969 Cynthia Levine [1969 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther".]

Notable Accomplishments

Academics

*Integrated Science Fair District Champions 1956Leslie, Roger and Edwards, Sue Elkins. Galena Park: The Community that Shaped its Own History. Clampitt Paper Company, 1993. p. 207]

*Integrated Science Fair District Champions 1957

*First in State Vocal Solo competition 1957

*District Champion in the Integrated Science Fair 1958

*State Champions in the Concert Band competition at Prairie View A & M College 1958

ports

Football

*Football District Champions 1955
*Football District Champions 1956
*Football State 1A Champions 1957 [University Interscholastic League. Prairie View Interscholastic League Football records 1957. http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/archives/football/pvil_records.html]
*Football District 3A Champions 1962 [University Interscholastic League. Prairie View College Interscholastic League Football records 1962. http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/archives/football/pvil_records.html]

Boys Track

*District Track Champions 1956

*District Track Champions 1957

*District Track Champions 1958

*State Track Champions 1968

Girls Track

*State Track Champions 19641965 Fidelity Manor High School Yearbook, "The Panther". Newsfoto 1965. p 66]
*Junior Olympic Champions 1964

*State Track Champions 1965

*Fidelity Relays Champions 1965

Women's Division

*Runner up T.S.U. RElays 1965

*Runner up Gulf Federations Meet 1965

*State Track Champions 1968

Tennis

*Tennis State Singles Champions 1958

Basketball

*Basketball District Champions 1955
*Basketball State 2A Champion 1961University Interscholastic League. Prairie View College Interscholastic League. Basketball records 1961 and 1966. http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/archives/basketball/pvil_records.html]
*Basketball District 2A Champion 1962University Interscholastic League. Prairie View College Interscholastic League. Basketball records 1962 and 1964. http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/archives/basketball/pvil_records.html]
*Basketball District 3A Champion 1964

*Basketball State 3A Champion 1966
*Basketball District 3A Champion 1967

Fidelity Manor Alumni Events

*Fidelity Manor All School Reunion 2008. [ [http://www.victoryintheword.us/FidelityManor2008.html FidelityManor2008 ] ] .
*The Bath House-The Fidelity Manor Awareness Center-Acquired on March 4, 2008. Expected completion date of remodeling and opening September 2008. [Minutes of Galena Park, Texas city council meeting March 4, 2008 [http://www.jamesfordetc.com/fidelitymanorawareness.html FidelityManorAwarenessCenter] ] .

References