This dissertation traces the history of Edwards High School in Gonzales, Texas, from its origins in the late 1800s through its closure in 1965 and situates Edwards within the larger framework of secondary schooling for African-Americans in Texas. Although more than two hundred high schools for African-Americans existed in Texas for some period by 1947, little is known about these institutions, especially those located in small towns. Schooling for African-Americans following the Civil War was irregular and normally consisted only of elementary grades. As more schools became available, black students received an inequitable share of resources for their education and they did not share in the groundswell of high schools available to white students. Many of the high schools that became available to African-Americans during the first part of the twentieth century were located in urban areas. Little is known of the secondary institutions for African-Americans in the small towns of Texas. This study serves to recount the story of one such school. The study pays particular attention to the students, teachers, and curriculum of Edwards High School, focusing on the years between 1935 and 1965, the year the school closed due to desegregation. Archival materials provided information on student demographics, enrollment and attendance patterns, as well as student participation in activities. Oral history interviews offered a glimpse into the lived experience of those who attended Edwards High. Teachers’ certification records and salary data informed an understanding of Edwards High School’s faculty. The study sheds light on the relationship between teachers and students and between faculty and the larger African-American community in Gonzales. The curriculum of Edwards High changed over time. Changing state classification and accreditation standards provided the impetus for these changes. This examination of Edwards High School informs a greater understanding of secondary education for African-Americans in Texas. / text

This thesis is written on the subject, state fully, "A Comparison of the Education Opportunities of the Whites and Negores of Walker County." The study is based, as far as possible, on a per-pupil comparison. The writer found Walker County an excellent county in which to make such a study for the simple reason that there was not another county in the state of Texas where there was such an equal balance of negro and white approved scholastics. The counties of Harrison, Marion, San Jacinto, Walker, and Waller were the only ones in the state of Texas that had more approved negro scholastics than white approved scholastics. In Walker county during the year 1937-1938 there were 2,498 white scholastics and 2,505 negro scholastics. This shows that there were only seven more negro approved scholastics than white approved scholastics.

The purpose of this study is to determine the status of the educational opportunities of the white and the colored child in the State of Texas during the year of 1935-36 and to locate the inequalities with reference to: building equipment, transportation, library facilities, teachers, average daily attendance of pupils, teacher-pupil ratio, per pupil cost of instruction, age-grade distribution, and age of pupils when graduated. The study found the following conclusions: The building value per pupil enrolled in the white schools was over three times as much as the building value per pupil enrolled in the colored schools. Nearly twice as much was spent to transport a white child to school as was spent to transport a colored child to school. The libraries in the white schools had five times as many volumes per pupil enrolled as did the libraries in the colored schools. The value of libraries, per pupil enrolled, was about five times as much in the white schools as in the colored schools, along with several more.

As a contribution to the general problem of Negro education, this study has undertaken to compare the holding power of the Negro schools and the White schools in Fort Worth, Texas, to determine whether or not there is a significant difference. It is also the purpose of the study to discover and analyze the reasons for the withdrawal and non-attendance of Negro students. A further purpose is to determine whether or not any significant difference has been achieved in the holding power of the Negro schools in the last three years by practices fostered by the Gilmer-Aiken school laws or by recent efforts made to equalize the educational opportunity afforded Negro scholastics with the educational opportunity afforded White scholastics in Fort Worth.