Bill Text: TX HR2292 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Commemorating the dedication of a historical marker for the James D. Burrus Elementary School in Houston.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-30 - Reported enrolled [HR2292 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR2292-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Commemorating the dedication of a historical marker for the James D. Burrus Elementary School in Houston.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-30 - Reported enrolled [HR2292 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR2292-Introduced.html
88R32406 BK-D | ||
By: J. Johnson of Harris | H.R. No. 2292 |
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WHEREAS, The James D. Burrus Alumni Association, the Harris | ||
County Historical Commission, the Independence Heights | ||
Conservancy, and the James D. Burrus Elementary School celebrated | ||
the dedication of an Official Texas Historical Marker at the school | ||
on February 8, 2023; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1908, African American families began settling in | ||
the Independence Heights community, and in an effort to meet the | ||
educational needs of area children, the Independence Heights School | ||
was established in a local church; following a petition to the | ||
Harris County Commissioners Court in 1911, a two-room house was | ||
moved from Sunset Heights to East 39th Street to serve as the | ||
official schoolhouse; in addition, the building functioned as an | ||
important cultural center and hosted many political and community | ||
meetings; Oliphant Lockwood Hubbard, the school's first teacher, | ||
later became principal and mayor of Independence Heights; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1923, the Colored Citizens Committee addressed | ||
the Houston school board about inequalities and proposed bond | ||
allocation for the construction of a new school, which was | ||
completed in 1928 at its current location on East 33rd Street; the | ||
school was renamed after James Dallas Burrus, an educator who was | ||
born into slavery and was a professor of mathematics at Fisk | ||
University for 47 years; during its first year in operation, Burrus | ||
Elementary had 5 teachers and served 185 students; by the 1930s, | ||
enrollment had grown to more than 600 students, with 13 teachers on | ||
staff; it became a junior high school for a time, but due to | ||
rezoning, desegregation, and the addition of other middle schools, | ||
the campus was later returned to an elementary school; and | ||
WHEREAS, Over the course of its history, James D. Burrus | ||
Elementary School has made a positive difference in the lives of | ||
many Houston youth, and the dedication of this historical marker | ||
provides a fitting tribute to the essential role it has played in | ||
educating several generations of area residents; now, therefore, be | ||
it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby commemorate the dedication of an Official Texas | ||
Historical Marker for the James D. Burrus Elementary School and | ||
commend all those involved in securing this honor for their | ||
efforts. |