James E. Guinn School
N 32° 43.961 W 097° 19.276
14S E 657301 N 3622899
Texas Historical Marker noting the history of the James E. Guinn School, today a business complex at 1120 S Freeway, Fort Worth, TX. It also honors its namesake, James E. Guinn.
Waymark Code: WMQ755
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2016
Views: 5
Marker Number: 2720
Marker Text: After Fort Worth public schools were organized in the fall of 1882, black students continued to be taught in black churches for more than a year. The city completed a schoolhouse for blacks on East Ninth Street at Elm in December 1883.
The son of a former slave, James Elvis Guinn was born in Fort Worth. Though neither of them could read nor write, his parents placed a great value on education, and James attended Fort Worth's early schools for blacks. He later pursued a college degree and became a professor of chemistry at Prairie View College, now Prairie View A&M University.
Guinn returned to Fort Worth as principal of South Side Colored School in 1900. Construction of a new three-story brick school building, designed by the prominent architectural firm of Sanguinet and Staats, began at the corner of Louisiana and Rosedale Avenues in April 1917. Shortly before its completion, Guinn died on July 11, 1917. Six days later the school board voted to name the new school building James E. Guinn School in his honor. It was the largest black school in Fort Worth in 1930. After sixty-three years of service, it was closed in 1980.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
|
Visit Instructions: Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
|