NPACCESS.com is home to a internet project designed to serve as a source of information and how to training for those who want to know about African American historical places in East Texas. Black communities in East Texas are rich in historical activity and stories and now is the time to bring them to the attention of our fellow citizens.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation along with a team of local partners are proud to present the 2015 National Rosenwald Schools Conference: Sharing the Past→Shaping the Future in Durham, North Carolina. Once home to the largest number of Rosenwald Schools, North Carolina is rich with Rosenwald School restoration and rehabilitation activities.
The Mary Allen Seminary, a boarding school for African-American girls, went through two earlier permutations. The school was founded as the Crocker Presbyterian Church Colored Sabbath School (1871-1875) and then became the Moffatt Parochial School (1975-1885). The Reverend Samuel Fisher Tenney was apparently active in the founding of both schools.
Israel Scott White, civic leader and civil-rights advocate, was born near Longview on March 15, 1885. He was the youngest of three sons of Noah and Susan White, who worked as dirt farmers. White attended the Pleasant Hill Community School near his home and was encouraged at an early age to study law.
After the Civil War ended, many former slaves moved to Texas. After reconstruction, many of the conditions that existed during slavery returned, the liberal polices of some Texans permitted African Americans to own land. The ability to own land created a kind of boom of ex-slaves moving to the state. Many were accomplished farmers and they did well.
Greg Muckelroy is a life-long resident of East Texas, specifically Kilgore, Texas. He is a 2 time Diversity Scholar recipient with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a Diversity Scholar with the Texas Historic Commission. He works with Gregg County Historical Commission as a volunteer on the Texas Marker Committee. He is also a past board member, and serves as a Advisory Board Member with the Gregg County Historical Museum and Foundation in Longview, Texas.
For the past 8 years he has explored the history of the more than 500 Rosenwald Schools in Texas. Greg now heads the movement to register and acquire Texas Historical Markers for historic African American locations, buildings, people and cemeteries in East Texas. NPACCESS.COM HERITAGE serves as documentation repository for the communities and marker projects he is working with and as a guide to African American Heritage Travel and historical places of interest in the area and the state.
NPACCESS stands for Non Profit Access. Its purpose is to serve as a repository of data, information and resources that are useful to individuals, groups and communities interested in growing their understanding and providing useful solutions for their neighborhoods.