FreedomCaravan — EDINBURG ARTS
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EDINBURG ARTS
June 19, 2021

Before you exit Hillcrest, near the office parking lot on the right is a low, small white “office” ground sign. Beyond it are two VERA benches and a tall gray VERA headstone with Arnold Vera’s picture.

1. Grave of Arnold Vera on the right

Mr. Vera was Edinburg’s Director of Public Works in 1993, and placed the Restlawn sign on Jasman Road / 25th Avenue. He also arranged for use of the city’s public address system, tables, and chairs for the first Juneteenth ceremony at Restlawn.

Mr. Vera, a member of the Hidalgo County Historical Commission, also participated in Juneteenth programs at Restlawn in 1994 and 1995.

Leave Hillcrest Cemetery and turn right on Richardson Road toward expressway.

Additional Note: Richardson

Milton Richardson was an Hidalgo County Judge. In 1957, he approved for Mr. J.D. White to donate a Bible to the Hidalgo County Law Library at the courthouse. It was still on display there in 2021, along with a picture of Joseph Daniel (J.D.) and Maude White.

Go west under the expressway and continue on W Schunior to 21st Avenue where you will turn left. On Schunior at 1015 just beyond 21st Avenue is the ECISD Transportation Annex on the right (north side).

2. ECISD Transportation Annex and compound

ECISD purchased several (approximately 11) acres from the J.D. White (1882-1966) Family in 1982.

2. Additional Notes – Transportation Annex

On May 26, 1998, the ECISD School Board President Dr. Adalberto Garza issued a proclamation in honor of the 60th anniversary of the first (and last) E.W. Norman School 8th grade graduation and the dedication on Oct. 11, 1938, of the newly constructed George Washington Carver Elementary School.

On March 30, 1999, at the same annex, the ECISD School Board announced that Melissa Dotson Betts (1902-1988) would be the name of one of the new elementary schools. Five Juneteenth receptions (2006-2010) have been held at the Transportation Annex.

Since 2006, a framed display has hung on the east wall of the large annex meeting room. A map of the six-blocks area shows the formerly segregated Black neighborhood from Schunior, three blocks south, to Peter Street between 21st and 19th Avenue. Pictures of some of the residents, including J.D. (1882-1966) and Maude White (1887-1969) are prominent.

3 & 4. On the south side of Schunior Street and to your right after turning left onto 21st Avenue are the former homes of Lewis Callis and his son John.

3. The second house from the corner of 21st Ave. and Schunior at 1018 (white brick with pink trim) is the former home of Lewis (1920-2003) and Lenora White Callis (1921-1968). They are both buried at Restlawn as well as their son Danny (Joseph Daniel) and their daughter Olivia “Bernie”. Lewis and Danny have large outdoor signs posted on the northern fence by the railroad at Restlawn Cemetery. Lenora, the daughter of J.D. and Maude White, married Lewis Callis.

Lewis Callis came to the RGV from his native Freeman, Virginia, during WWII and was stationed at Moore Air Base. In 1959, Mr. Callis became Edinburg’s first African American letter carrier. He also served as chaplain for Edinburg’s Freddy Gonzalez American Legion Post 408.

4. John Callis, son of Lewis and Lenora, lived in the third house from the corner of 21st Avenue at 1010 E Schunior. John and his younger brother Clarence both left the RGV some years ago and moved up state. Clarence believes John’s house was built around 1974 and Lewis’ in about 1964.

Continue down 21st Avenue to E Van Week Street. The segregated Black neighborhood extended from 21st Avenue west to 19th Avenue and from Schunior south to Peter Street.

5. The Jacob White American Legion Post #884 was behind the Callis homes on the south side of the alley. Today the long white Rising Star Church Fellowship Hall is in that general location. The 2005 Juneteenth reception following the service at Restlawn was held at the church fellowship hall.

WWII Veterans named Post #884 for Jacob White (1923-1945). Originally it was believed that Mr. White died from burns due to a kamikaze plane strike. Medical records found this year by researcher Olivia Salazar at the Pharr Library indicate that he died from prostate cancer shortly before his twenty-second birthday. A picture of some of the WWII Veterans is on the western fence at Restlawn Cemetery.

Post #884 faced 21st Avenue and served the community from 1947-1959. The veterans assisted Carver School with needed supplies and paid one of the older boys to help Mrs. Betts with maintenance of the school property.

Additional Notes - Jacob White (1923-1945)

TEC 5 Jacob White of the 44th Veterinary Corp was drafted into the Army on April 1, 1943 at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. His basic training was at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Sgt. White was also stationed at Ft. Clarke in Brackettville, Texas. A McAllen Monitor newspaper report said he was sent for training to Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1944. Medical records say he entered the hospital there in May. Mr. White died at Walter Reed Army Hospital on Sunday January 7, 1945.

NORTH SIDE OF E VAN WEEK – 1000 BLOCK

6. The Rising Star Baptist Church

The present Rising Star Church building at 1021 E Van Week was purchased from Moore Field around 1963. Church members chose the name Restlawn for the cemetery at a meeting in 1993. That year, as well as in 1997, 2000, and 2005, Rising Star served as an alternative site for the Juneteenth memorial service in case it rained. In July of 1998, a church committee selected Mrs. Betts’ name, from a list of five African Americans, to submit to ECISD as a name for one of the new elementary schools. In 2005, Rising Star hosted the Juneteenth reception after the Restlawn service.

7. Mrs. Mary Parnell lived next door to Rising Star where the empty lot is with the concrete walkway. Mrs. Parnell is buried at Restlawn in the second row near the “road”. Her tombstone has the Virgen de Guadalupe on the back of it. Her son Lewis Greene married Olivia White and moved to Hearne, Texas. Mrs. Parnell was an organizing member of the Rising Star Church which began the first Sunday in May of 1938. Her son was ordained there as a deacon in May of 1943.

The CARavan does not go to these locations:

NORTH SIDE OF E VAN WEEK – 900 BLOCK between 20th and 19th Avenues

8. Rev. Marcus A. Perry at the corner of 20th Avenue. The 1940 census tells us that Marcus Perry was born in the slave state of North Carolina around 1856. When or how Mr. Perry arrived in Texas is unclear.

9. Masonic Lodge The two-story building next door was the Black Masonic Lodge and today is an apartment building. The Masonic Lodge inscription plaque remains on an outside wall. (Pic. may be available – was included in the Smith video tour)

10. Jackson Family – Mrs. Jackson was the sister of Otis Bell’s wife and the mother of Edinburg optometrist Dr. Ralph Jackson.

11. Lily of the Valley Baptist Church

The Lily of the Valley Church was on the corner of 19th Avenue at 901 E Van Week. The church pastor Rev. Norman started Edinburg’s first Black school inside the church around 1928. Within a couple of years a school room was built behind the church by the alley and the unaccredited institution was named the E.W. Norman School. Mrs. Betts began her Edinburg teaching career there in 1935.

(Simple drawing of the school by Mildred White is available and also a pic of Milton West’s 1938 report card signed by his teacher Mrs. Betts).

Army TEC 5 Jacob White’s funeral was held at the church in Jan. of 1945. His father J.D. White was a church deacon.

19TH AVENUE EAST SIDE BETWEEN E VAN WEEK AND SCHUNIOR

12. E. W. & Norman School. Prior to teaching at Carver (1938-1961), Mrs. Betts worked at Edinburg’s E.W. Norman School from 1935 to 1938.

. E.W. & NORMAN SCHOOL - Behind the home and facing 19th Avenue stood a small one-room building. The E.W. & Norman School was named for the Edwards, West, and Norman families who provided most of the students. The unaccredited school was built on the south side of the alley between the house and the Lily of the Valley Church at 901 E Van Week.

Additional Notes: E.W. & Norman School

E.W. & Norman School - See Gary West’s 1976 Pan American University Masters of Education thesis, The Weed Was a Flower, for more information. In it Mr. West states that the school received accreditation in 1938 and Mrs. Betts held its only 8th grade graduation that spring. The school had approximately 25 students.

Mr. West tells us that Rev. Norman started the first school for Edinburg’s Black children inside the church and was the teacher from approximately 1928 until 1932 when Mrs. Verna Veil Butler was hired for one year. Next Miss Ruby Leona Parker stayed for three years. In the fall of 1935, Mrs. Melissa Dotson Betts began and continued until the spring of 1938 when the E.W. & Norman School closed. Mrs. Betts continued at the new George Washington Carver School on E Lovett Street in the fall of 1938.

13. The Norman Family - At the corner of Shunior and 19th on the east side is where first Rev. Norman, and later Mr. Otis Bell lived. Reverend John B. Norman (1896-1967) was the pastor of the Lily of the Valley Baptist Church circa 1928-1940

Additional Notes: Norman Family

The 1940 U.S. Census reports that Rev. John B. Norman (42), his wife Viola (37), and son (Audrey) Adra 19, lived on 20th Avenue. Rev. Norman completed four years of college, worked 52 weeks in 1939, and had an income of 960. According to an oral history interview, Mrs. Norman operated a beauty shop at their home.

14. Bell Family Later Mr. Otis Bell (1910-2008) and his family bought the property and resided on the double lot.

b. Additional Notes: Bell Family

Mr. Otis Bell was born on April 16, 1910, in Guadalupe County near Seguin. In January of 1928, young Otis came for a short visit with one of his eight siblings, brother Arthur, who was working construction in Pharr. Otis ended up staying and learning the shoe shine business from Henry Wright of McAllen. By 1933 Mr. Bell had his own marble stand downtown at the Edinburg Hotel. In 1937, he married Isabel Drones and they had one daughter, Dolores. After her death, her two daughters Theresa and LaTanya were raised by Mr. and Mrs. Bell.

The U.S. 1940 Census lists Mr. Bell’s age as 30, married to Lillie Bell (29), living at 914 E Van Week, occupation – porter, 6th grade education, worked 52 weeks in 1939, income 150, (1935 living on a farm in rural Hidalgo County).

E VAN WEEK STREET SOUTH SIDE 900 BLOCK going east between 19th and 20th Avenues

15. Mrs. Melissa Dotson Betts (1902-1988) rented a place down the street from Rev. Lewis, in the middle of the 900 block, around 914. She lived in Edinburg during the work week and on the weekend returned to her home in San Benito at 650 W Robertson where her husband Everett had a BBQ business.

Mrs. Betts became an Edinburg CISD teacher in the fall of 1935 at the E.W. & Norman School, a block away on 19th Avenue. In the fall of 1938, the new George Washington Carver School opened and records show that she continued there through the spring of 1961. The 1940 Census reports that Mr. Otis Bell owned the property at 914 E Van Week with a value of 200.

16. “Peg Leg” Lewis – Mr. Julian West mentioned Rev. Lewis during oral history interviews in the 1990s. at the corner of 20th Avenue next to # 918. He ran a little business from his place and sold ginger snap cookies.

E VAN WEEK STREET SOUTH SIDE 1000 BLOCK going east between 20th and 21th Avenues

17. Edgar West Across the street from Rising Star, lived the family of Edgar West Sr. at 1022 E Van Week. They were all Rising Star Church members. After seventeen years, Edgar Sr.’s widow married Rev. Samuel Gardner who pastored the church in the 1990s and helped with Juneteenth.

Edgar Jr. (1942-2021) helped “Pops”, his grandfather Vernon West, dig some of the graves at Restlawn.

Continue down 21st Avenue to E Lovett

(The tour does not go here)

TO THE LEFT – one block (EAST) ON E LOVETT is Lincoln Elementary School at 1319 E Lovett –

18. Mrs. Hattie West was an involved parent (copy of pic available)

Down E LOVETTE back to 21st Ave. on the NORTH SIDE of E Lovett - the 1000 BLOCK going west from 21st to 20th Avenue

19. Bryant family – One of the sons was hired by the veterans of Post 884 to help Mrs. Betts with the Carver School upkeep.

20. Heliton family – Ollie Heliton was a WWII veteran and is buried at Restlawn along with other family members

21. Dickens Across the street from the Carver playground at 1003 E. Lovett lived Rev. Henry Dickens. He performed many of the funerals and burials at Restlawn Cemetery which was listed as the Harlem Cemetery in one record. (Pic available of Rev. and Mrs. Dickens)

Rev. Dickens was one of the pastors who served at Rising Star. His widow Lilly Dickens Baker provided the first list of names for those buried at Restlawn in 1993. She also signed the necessary document for the cemetery to become designated as historic.

Mrs. Baker was instrumental in helping establish the Juneteenth ceremony and in selecting the name Restlawn which was chosen by Rising Star Church members. Mrs. Baker is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Park along with many of her Vernon West family members.

22. The Claude Edwards family sold their property at 1003 E Lovett to Lillie Bell and Henry Dickens for $300. Later Dickens moved to 911 E Lovett. The E.W. & Norman School was partially named for the Edwards family who had several children. Mr. Edwards spoke at the Carver School dedication in 1938.

E LOVETT NORTH SIDE 900 BLOCK going west from 20th to 19th Avenue

23. Lizzie Williams home at 921 – wife of Levi Williams who was the uncle of Parthenia Archer, a teacher. Mrs. William kept a watchful eye on the children as they walked home from school.

24. Zion Travelers Church at 917 – an early church prior to Lily of the Valley.

25. Gant / Baker home – Mr. Robert Gant spoke at the Carver School dedication in 1938. He sold his property at 911 E Lovett to Lillie Bell Dickens.

E LOVETT SOUTH SIDE 900 BLOCK going east from 19th Avenue to 20th

26. (See #36) Alex Jefferson’s home was listed as 910 E Lovett. Mr. Alexander Jefferson was born on July 7, 1893 in Booth, Texas and he died Nov. 15, 1956 of cardiac arrest in Galveston, Texas. His wife Gertrude was baptized by Rev. Norman at Lily of the Valley. Alex Jr. and Cliff were his sons. Claudi Mae and Lillie were his daughters. Mr. Jefferson owned the Top Hat Taxi and the two story Top Hat Hotel as well as some rent houses and a BBQ which faced Peter Street.

27. June Nell Penn, the daughter of Lillie Bell Dickens Baker lived at 908 E Lovett, across the street from her mother, in the 1990s. June Nell helped with many of the early Juneteenth observances at Restlawn. She died in 2019 and is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Park. She was a student of Mrs. Betts.

28. Bernice Mahalia “Miss Tommy or La Tomasa” had her home on the corner of 20th Avenue and E Lovett. She ran a successful business on the alley behind her house where many gathered to socialize and listen to music. It was part of the “Flats”’. Her daughter Marva Jo attended Carver School. Bernice owned a pink Cadillac.

E LOVETT SOUTH SIDE 1000 BLOCK going east from 20th to 21st Avenue

29. Lizzie Bass was Bernice Mahalia’s mother. She lived next to the Carver School playground.

30. Carver School “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” George Washington Carver, agricultural chemist, inventor, and much more.

The FORMER CARVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SITE & PLAYGROUND was at 1014 E. Lovett and covered lots 2, 3, 4, and 5. The school opened in the fall of 1938 and continued through the spring of 1961 according to Mrs. Betts’ personnel record. 1961-62 shows her as working in “Administration”.

Additional Notes:

Mrs. Betts was the only Carver teacher for multiple grades during the school’s existence. Her salary in September of 1939 was $495.00. The word “colored” appeared rather than the school’s name. A couple of blocks away at 1023 E Kuhn, was Austin Elementary. The lowest salary listed there was $930.00. According to an interview with Mrs. Hattie West, Mrs. Betts received her check from Austin and it was delivered by a student.

On April 12, 1940, Melissa D. Betts (Col.) for “Colored School” was listed with the rural schools miles away at Laguna Seca, McCook, and Santa Fe. Mrs. Betts earned $585.00; the lowest amount listed for the others was $960.

By 1952, with seventeen years of ECISD experience listed, Mrs. Betts’ salary was $3,251.00, $200 more than the $3,051.00 “state” salary. During 1960-61, her last school year at Carver, sometimes her supervisor, the new Director of Special Services Mr. Al Ramirez, would visit the school and deliver her check.

In 1998, at a Juneteenth gathering at Restlawn Cemetery, Mr. Ramirez was the first to offer a monetary donation to buy books for the local library in honor of Mrs. Betts.

Extra-curricular activities at Carver School included arts and needle crafts, crochet, knitting, Girl Scouts, and poetry composition. The children played games such as hopscotch and jacks and did blackboard work. Their prizes included colors, books, and notebooks.

In springtime, area Black schools would get together for sack races, jumping rope, carrying beans on a knife, and baseball. Many times Parthenia Archer, who taught in Mission and later Weslaco, served as the umpire and scorekeeper.

On October 11, 1938, George Washington Carver School held its dedication and Rev. M.A. Perry (c. 1853 - c. 1957) gave the invocation. Also listed on the program of the “Edinburg Colored School” were Mr. Claude Edwards and Mr. Vernon West (1890-1980), two of the school’s namesakes.

The Carver curriculum included an opening prayer and song followed by the pledge of allegiance. The Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, was sung daily and scriptures were read. Besides the usual academics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, oratory and debate were practiced. In a Feb. 12, 1995 article from the McAllen Monitor, June Nell Penn recalled the used and outdated books that Mrs. Betts had to use with her students while waiting to inherit newer ones from the schools serving white and Hispanic students.

Volleyball, baseball, and track were popular sports. The Jacob White American Legion Post #884 provided needed equipment which the school district did not. The post also hired an older male student to help Mrs. Betts with lighting the fire, cutting the grass, and other duties which she was expected to perform.

Students at Carver also practiced needle crafts, knitting, and crocheting. They also enjoyed playing hopscotch, jacks, and chalkboard work. Prizes included colors, books, and notebooks.

Carver School and Mrs. Betts joined other area Black schools and their teachers, such as Miss Parthenia Archer, in spring competitions with activities such as sack races, jumping rope, and carrying beans on a knife.

More extra info:

ECISD provided transportation for its older students to attend Booker T. Washington High School in McAllen after it opened in 1946. Prior to that, African American students had to leave the RGV to pursue secondary education in other parts of the state.

In a 1998 interview, Mrs. Hattie West, one of Mrs. Betts’ parent helpers stated that Mrs. Betts was a captain – she always expected the best and that the students would say “She did deliver!”

Mrs. June Penn, a Carver student, added in 1999 that bathroom breaks were limited to five minutes and she kept a “strap” for corporeal punishment on her desk though it’s not clear if she ever used it

Wiley debate info: Extra

Some schools also offered debating. Mrs. Betts’ alma mater Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, defeated national debate champions at the University of Southern California in 1935, the year she began her teaching career in Edinburg.

Despite the fact that Black schools were not allowed to join, compete, or attend national debate conventions, in the 1930s, the Wiley College debate team traveled thousands of miles throughout the U.S. on interracial goodwill tours, sometimes dressing in tuxedos and providing pre-television day entertainment.

USC was one of the few white colleges that would debate Wiley, thus making it possible for their debaters to establish legitimacy. Denzel Washington’s 2007 movie, The Great Debaters, was based on this historic win and his million dollar contribution helped Wiley re-establish its team in 2008.

31. Vernon West home 1022 E Lovett - Vernon and Maggie West, helped found the Rising Star Baptist Church on the first Sunday of 1938. They lived beside the Carver School and behind their house, Mrs. West ran her East Side Laundry business. Richard King of the King Ranch family would only have Mrs. West launder and starch his shirts. Maggie West also attended the birth of her grandson Edgar Jr. who was born one block away.

The West grandchildren attended Carver Elementary and Maggie West helped Mrs. Betts as needed. Her daughter-in-law Mrs. Hattie Mae West lived across the alley from the school and also assisted when called upon.

Take 21st Avenue South to E Peter – one more block south to E Loeb the back of Austin Elementary is visible. The front entrance is at 1023 E Kuhn.

32. Austin Elementary

Mrs. Hattie West was vice president of the PTA after integration.

Mrs. Melissa Betts spent her last years teaching at Austin Elementary from the fall of 1965 to the spring of 1969 when she retired.

From 21st Avenue turn right on E Peter Street

E PETER NORTH SIDE 1000 BLOCK going west from 21st to 20th Avenue

33. Julian West home – Hattie (1917-2004) and Julian West (1917-2004) raised their four children at 1018 E Peter. Julian came to the RGV in Nov. of 1930 and Hattie came later. They married in 1941 in Booneville, New York. Julian served in WWII and used the G.I. Bill to further his education at Pan Am. Through their lives both Hattie and Julian worked at various jobs in Edinburg. Achieving the historical marker for Restlawn Cemetery and establishing the Juneteenth observance there would not have been possible without the help of Mr. and Mrs. West.

34. Cora Hunter (c. 1870 – c. 1957) lived next to the West family. During the 1930s, she worked for the Fortson family and accompanied them on vacations to Colorado.

E PETER NORTH SIDE 900 BLOCK going west from 20th Avenue to 19th

35. Bubba Sanders and “Mama Gert” corner of 20th – The had a business that was part of the neighborhood “Flats” entertainment district.

36. (see #26) Alex Jefferson’s BBQ business around 901 faced E Peter. The taxi stand and Top Hat Hotel were toward the alley. His residence was listed as 910 E Lovett.

E PETER SOUTH SIDE 900 BLOCK

37. Dorsey Bean and his family lived at 906 E Peter. Their brick home had a swimming pool behind it. Mr. Bean was born June 16, 1907 in Louisiana. He was a TEC 5 in the 43 Veterinary Corp during WWII. He was the first commander of Post 884. He was also a 32nd degree Mason in Lodge 321 in Edinburg. Mr. Bean managed several successful businesses around his home which included rent houses, a BBQ, and a barber shop.

His wife Fannie Rosetta was born Mar. 18, 1902 and died Jan. 7, 1992. She is buried in Riverside, CA. Dorsey is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Park. He was the first African American to be buried there in 1967. They had one daughter Sandra Marie.

POSSIBLE THREE BLOCK CHANGE IN ROUTE AND TWO ADDED SITES – or they can be an “addition”.

Continue west on Peter Street for 6 blocks to 13th Avenue and turn left.

38. On the right at 410 N 13th is the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Office. It also represents Praire View A&M, a public historically black land grant university. Mrs. Hattie West attended the Praire View school.

At the corner of 13th and Loeb, turn right.

39. On the right, in the empty lot, used to stand Hidalgo County’s jail which was built in 1922. Presumably, this is where contractor Arthur Gupton was jailed after he killed bootblack Leonard Bass. On Sunday morning, July 2, 1928, Mr. Bass was opening the downtown McKenzie Barber Shop a few blocks away on 12th Avenue when Mr. Gupton shot him in the back. The newspaper reported the trouble was allegedly over some laundry Mrs. Bass had done for Mr. Gupton a few days prior.

He was held in jail until his examining trial was held on Monday, July 3. No records have been located to indicate if there was any punishment for the murder.

Continue one block on Loeb to Closner and turn left.

40. On the left (east side) was Sibley’s Café at 318 N Closner across the street from Robert’s Chevrolet at 317. Roger McCollaugh, 24 years old, and Willie Mann Dickens, brother of Rising Star Pastor Henry Dickens, worked there in 1947. They were hurrying to get to their jobs by noon when they struck some poles sticking out of a truck parked near Sacred Heart Church. Mr. McCollaugh is buried at Restlawn in Row 3 a few spaces from the north fence. Willie Mann was buried in Hearne, Texas.

Continue on Closner for one more block to McIntyre.

41. On the left at 200 N Closner is the Museum of South Texas History (MOST History)

According to the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce website, the first county jail was built at this location in 1909 soon after “Chapin” (now Edinburg) was named the seat of Hidalgo County. Originally, the Hidalgo County seat was in Hidalgo, which at that time was called Edinburgh.

In 1911, “Chapin”, named for Dennis B. Chapin - the county judge, changed its name to Edinburg spelled with no “h” at the end. The town also named streets after executives of the Southern Pacific Railroad hoping it would encourage them to build a line to the Rio Grande Valley. On Jan. 11, 1927, the train arrived in Edinburg and the final golden spike was driven in the track. Streets named for company executives included Van Vleck (Van Week), Lovett, Peter, Loeb, Kuhn, McIntyre, Harriman (now University), Mahl, Stubbs, and Fay.

For Juneteenth of 1998 the original door used for the “colored” ticket counter was donated to the museum. Also at the museum in October of 1998, for “Dia de los Muertos”, an altar was prepared to commemorate Mrs. Betts.

This year prior to June 19th, the museum hosted several podcasts in honor of Juneteenth. Also, the renovated 1909 county jail building features new panels of African Americans during the early development of the Rio Grande Valley. The museum’s archives department as well, contains more pictures, items, and files related to African American history in the Valley.

At McIntyre Street turn right and go one block to 10th Avenue where you turn left.

One block on 10th Ave. takes you to University (107). The courthouse will be on your left.

42. Hidalgo County Courthouse

To your left is the courthouse and in its Law Library is a display with the Bible donated in 1957 by Mr. J.D. White along with a picture of him and his wife on their 50th wedding anniversary. Mr. White was a custodian at the courthouse and a deacon at the Lily of the Valley Baptist Church. His wife Maude was a homemaker.

(This is additional info – not to be driven unless we change the route again. I’m starting to think it may be best to drive it if possible.)

Turn right on 107 / University

Two blocks down University to 8th Avenue on your right are several places with significant history.

43. Down 8th Avenue is Edinburg’s City Hall and its Plaza where the Juneteenth Festival will be held on Saturday, June 19th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM. Juneteenth was raised to a Festival status in 2019. The City of Edinburg has issued several Juneteenth Proclamations through the years.

Further down 8th Avenue behind, on the north side of, the old city auditorium which was built around 1927

44. Former site of the old Edinburg Jr. College Faculty Club which housed teachers and some junior high and high school students. Mrs. Maggie West prepared meals there in the 1930s. In 1938, after finishing eighth grade at Edinburg’s black E.W. & Norman School, her son Milton left Edinburg to live with an uncle in Palestine, Texas, where he could attend a black high school. “Jim Crow” laws prevented Valley high schools from accepting black students. Hidalgo County’s only black high school, Booker T Washington, in McAllen, did not come into existence until 1942.

45. ECISD Central Office at 411 N 8th Ave. has issued Juneteenth and other African American related proclamations. On Aug.28, 1999 it dedicated the Mrs. Melissa Dotson Betts Elementary School in honor of the long-time ECISD African American educator who began at the E.W. & Norman segregated school in 1935.

Down W University, across the railroad tracks to 4th Avenue, begins the campus of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

46. The UTRGV Library is in the center of the campus. In its special collections department are archives with files and old yearbooks. The 1950 El Bronco Yearbook shows pictures of the Black WWII Veterans. Mrs. Lilly Bell Dickens Baker, daughter of Mrs. Maggie West, worked as a custodian and appears in the 1961 El Bronco.

According to a Jan. 6, 2014, McAllen Monitor article, D. Joe Williams, of McAllen’s Booker T Washington High School, integrated Texas collegiate sports in 1954. Mr. Williams played baseball for Pan American College and helped the team win the Big State Conference Championship. Later, he also played baseball semiprofessionally. In 2003, D. Joe was inducted into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame.

The university and the library have had exhibits, displays, and events related to local, state, national, and international Black History. Basketball great Lucious Jackson played for Pan American College when the team won the national collegiate championship. Mr. Jackson also won a gold medal as a member of the 1964 Summer Olympic basketball team and later played professionally for the Philadelphia 76ers.

A copy of Gary West’s Master thesis, The Weed Was a Flower, done in 1976 is in the archives.

Turn left at 4th Avenue to make a U turn on University. Go two blocks to 6th Avenue.

47. On the right, the old Southern Pacific Railroad Depot serves as the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce. The renovated building has a fitting historical display and in 1998, a new ticket door and plaque were donated to replace the former “Colored” ticket counter. In a McAllen Monitor June 20, 1998, article Edgar West Jr. recalled the smell of the canvas bags his dad would pull off the trains. A trolley car tour of historic sites in the Black neighborhood departed from the train station and the 1998 Juneteenth reception was held in the large meeting room. The chamber hosted at least two more Juneteenth receptions with the last one being in 2002.

Continue on University four blocks to 10th Avenue and turn right.

48. At the corner, facing east was the old Edinburg Post Office where Dorsey and Fannie Bean worked. The building had steps going up and brass railings which Mr. and Mrs. Bean kept well polished.

Go one more block south on 10th Ave. to Cano and turn left.

49. On your right at 100 W Cano, where the Plains Capital Bank is now, the old Edinburg Hotel used to be. Mr. Otis Bell began work there on Friday, April 13, 1933. He was the doorman and also had a shoe shine stand of solid marble. When the hotel closed in 1961, they gave Mr. Bell the beautiful, ornate front door. He installed it at the Lilly of the Valley Church where he served as a deacon.

At the corner of Cano and Closner and turn right.

50. At 100 E. Cano, to your left, on the eastern corner, is the Hidalgo County Courthouse Annex. Formerly it was the First National Bank and Mr. Bell moved his shoe shine business to their lobby. He continued at that location after it became the courthouse annex.

The city, the county, and the state honored Mr. Bell by declaring Oct. 3, 1991, as Otis Bell Day. In a ceremony, Rep. Eddie de la Garza gave Otis a special certificate recognizing him as being “the embodiment of today’s small businessman”. Mr. Bell also had his own honorary parking spot within the courthouse parking lot.

Continue down Closner for a couple of blocks to Fay.

On your right at the corner of Fay and Closner is the St. Joseph Catholic Church and school

51. Danny Callis (1949-1968), son of Lewis and Lenora, attended the parochial school for a few years.

Continue on Closner for three more blocks to Sprague and turn left.

This would be a good time to add details about Jacob White while driving to Memorial Park. You already have his information.

Continue for eleven blocks on Sprague to Memorial Park at 1212 E Sprague.

52. If you enter the parking area that is parallel to Sprague and go left, you see the black P.O.W. flags and benches. Immediately before them is a walkway that leads to an upright monument with five circles. You can see the embedded engraved granite pavers in the pathway. Jacob White’s is the eighth paver to the left of the monument on the path that goes east toward the expressway.

Exit the parking lot and continue on Sprague to the access road of 281 and Turn right.

Continue on the access road past the stoplight at Freddy Gonzalez to E Canton Ave. and turn left.

The drive to Betts Elementary takes about five minutes going 35 – 40 mph.

53. The Dr. Thomas Esparza Elementary School is located at 2510 Cesar Chavez just next to Betts Elementary on the north side.

This would be a good time to talk about Mrs. Betts and related info like the Wiley “Great Debaters”. Also about Dr. Thomas Esparza and his Juneteenth involvement.

Dr. Thomas Esparza (1921-2001) began attending the Restlawn Juneteenth Memorial Service in 1995 at the invitation of Mr. Lewis Callis. They were both members of the American Legion Post #408. Dr. Esparza said the pledge to the flag in 1995 and 1996. In 1995, Mr. Callis gave the benediction. His daughter Kim sang at the first Restlawn Juneteenth gathering in 1993, and many times after that.

By 1997, Dr. Esparza was giving the service welcome and had members of Post 408 raising the flag on the new flag pole they helped provide. He had also recruited his daughter Teylene to sing the Star Spangled Banner. She continued to attend and participate even after her father’s death on Aug. 3, 2001. Dr. Esparza’s final public appearance was as the emcee at Juneteenth in 2001 where his daughter sang and his son Thomas Jr. spoke. It was also the last time Mr. Callis was part of the service. He gave the benediction.

The Dr. Thomas Esparza Elementary School was dedicated in 2003, the same year that Mr. Callis died on April 24th.

54. Mrs. Melissa Dotson BETTS (1902-1988)

Mrs. Betts taught in Brownsville and San Benito prior to coming to Edinburg in 1935.

The Carver School name remains on school records for the 1961-62 year, but Mrs. Betts’ work record lists her at the ECISD Central Office for that year. The following year, she began at Edinburg High School in the library and remained there from 1962 until 1965. Austin Elementary was her final assignment from the fall of 1965 until her retirement in the spring of 1969.

Mrs. Betts’ husband Everett died at the Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen in the spring of 1978. Sometime after that she moved to the Houston area to be near her sister. A Houston newspaper reported Mrs. Betts’ death on March 16, 1988. She was buried in Burleson County, at Lyons, next to Giddings in Lee County where she was born on Feb. 8, 1902.

Mrs. Betts’ records show that she attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, from 1918 to 1923 and returned there in the summers of 1925, 1927, 1930, 1937, and 1938 for advanced study. English, Sociology, and Public Speaking were among her courses.

Since Wiley’s enrollment in 1935 was only a few hundred, it seems likely that Mrs. Betts was aware of the “Great Debaters” who defeated the highly ranked University of Southern California team. “Jim Crow” laws of segregation in the South prevented the Wiley team from joining, competing, or attending the national debate convention. However, that didn’t stop their coach, Mr. Melvin B. Tolson, from taking the Wiley team on goodwill tours and even arranging a few interracial debate encounters.

Surely Mrs. Betts’ students in Edinburg benefited from her exposure to the high quality education she received at Wiley College. In 2008, actor Denzel Washington, star and director of the movie “The Great Debaters”, donated one million dollars to revive the Wiley debate program.

According to Mrs. Hattie West, a Carver School parent helper: the children would say about Mrs. Betts, “She did deliver!”

Betts Elementary School was dedicated on Aug. 28, 1999. A special congratulation to school bus driver Melinda Alarcon who received the 2019-2020 Driver of the Year Award for ECISD from the Property Casualty Alliance of Texas. The award was based on leadership, attitude, perseverance, student and parent relationships, and technical skills. She helped out the Betts teachers with whatever they needed to be delivered including books, hot spots, Chromebooks, and materials.