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The
Rufus F. Hardin High School
and the Rufus F. Hardin Elementary School
Brownwood, TexasPhotos
Courtesy Jason Grant
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The
Rufus F. Hardin School
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
Founder
George SmithThe
School's founder, first principal and teacher was Buffalo Soldier George Edward
Smith. Born into slavery in Virgina about 1847, Smith managed to escape to Washington,
D.C. where he was pressed into service digging trenches for a threatened invasion
by Confederate troops. Smith joined the U.S. Army in 1869 and was stationed at
Fort Concho (San Angelo) and Fort
Davis.
After participating in various campaigns against the Apaches
in West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, Sergeant Smith was discharged at Fort
Ringgold in 1874 - his dischage papers showing "excellent character." He re-enlisted
in Washington D.C. and was then assigned to the 10th Cavalry - an all-Black Regiment
that displayed a Buffalo on their crest - for the name Buffalo Soldiers - given
to them by the Cheyenne Indians.
While serving his last months at Fort
Concho, he was also serving as an appointed school trustee for "Colored District
# 1" of Tom Green County.
After discharge he served as a Deacon in the
San Angelo AME Church and was soon appointed an elder (1883). AME Bishop Richard
H. Cain was recruiting men of excellent character to organize AME churches where
there were none and George Smith went to Brownwood
in 1885 to find only one AME Church - but no school for African-American children.
He organized classes and taught the children in the basics - wherever a classroom
could be found.
George Smith established the Lee Chapel African Methodist
Church in Brownwood in 1888 and that same year
he married Virginia Love. Together they would have 14 children. Reverend Smith
bought land for a home in the Bailey Addition of Brownwood and with the same energy
he fought Indians, established churches and taught school, he worked to get water
for his neighborhood - dying on the very day (August 9th, 1912) that the project
was finished.
Brownwood's George Smith Housing Project has since been
named to honor him. |
| | The
Rufus F. Hardin School entrance
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
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Educator Rufus
F. Hardin 1859-1949
There was only one school for African-Americans in Brown County in 1917 - and
while it enjoyed no fixed location, it was this school that was to become the
R.F. Hardin High School in 1934.
Rufus Forley Hardin was born a slave
in Kaufman County, Texas in 1857. He started school at the age of 13 and four
years later he left to work on a cattle drive to Kansas where he attended a Kansas
school for eight months. He returned to Texas and enrolled in Sulphur Springs
school. At the age of 20 he taught school in Van Zandt County and married Mary
Vasher when he was 22.
His initial foray into farming was near Canton,
but he later bought land in Kaufman County near Terrell.
Hardin accepted a position of teacher with Brownwood Schools in 1896. He earned
a BA from Prairie View College and his wife died in 1903 when Rufus was just six
weeks from receiving his MA.
While he was farming, he taught school
in the winter - and attended classes at several other schools - including Waco's
Paul Quinn College and Austin's Tillotson College. In 1905 he married Mary Jane
Lasseter - a woman who shared his passion for education.
Hardin was
a leader in the Lee Chapel AME Church - the same one founded by George Smith in
the 1880s. When funds were low, the Hardins often spent their own money for supplies.
Hardin also helped fill the Bailey subdivision by building homes and selling them
to responsible families - at affordable terms.
In January of 1934 Mary
died and Rufus had a stroke. He was unable to return to teaching - but a remarkable
record of 38 years is a fine legacy that few can equal. He died in 1949, at the
age of 90, but the school is still standing - and after restoration - it should
continue as a memorial to a pioneer educator of Brown County. |
| | The
Rufus F. Hardin School
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
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The Building
While George Smith taught classes in churches and borrowed space - one of
the buildings used on the corner of Beaver and Cordell Streets became known as
the Cordell School - this was a simple two-teacher school that taught six grades
- which later expanded to include grade eight.
In 1910 lots were bought
for construction of a proper school for "colored" students but two portable buildings
were brought in - in lieu of a permanent structure. In 1917 both buildings burned
and classes were once again held in borrowed space - some classes being held in
some of Rufus Hardin's rental houses.
In 1916 Brownwood's Coggin School
burned and the charred but still usable stone was salvaged to build a proper four-room
"Negro School." This was completed in 1917 and consisted of an auditorium and
thee classrooms. Lighting and a stage were added in the first year and the building
also became a community gathering place. |
The
Rufus F. Hardin School Interior
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
First named Brownwood
Colored High School, the school honored it's first five graduates with the Class
of 1918.
When Principal and Professor Hardin had his stroke in 1934
and was unable to continue teaching, the school was renamed in his honor. A former
student (A.L.Reed) served as principal until D.V. Hall (Class of 1922) was installed.
The school expanded to 12 grades in 1947 and became a fully accredited, graduating
13 students that year.
Desegregation in 1954 caused Brownwood to integrate
grades 9 through 12 - and overnight, Rufus Hardin High was renamed Rufus Hardin
Elementary. In 1966, rather than integrate the elementary grades of Hardin school,
the district chose to close the school as a public institution and assigned Hardin
students to other Brownwood schools. |
| | Hardin
School alumnus Marrian Barron, Class of 1955
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
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In late 1966 the
school served as a Project Head Start facility - but this only lasted for four
years. In 1970 the doors were shut - and have remained closed until recently when
The Rufus F. Hardin Museum Inc. was formed.
The building, eager to begin
it's new role as museum is now awaiting restoration and the public is invited
to contribute to the project. Willie L. Washington Gay is President of the Rufus
F. Hardin Museum. |
The
Rufus F. Hardin School Interior
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
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