Copywrited 2007 Brazos Valley African American Museum
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Site built by Robin Silva, Bryan, Texas
From the very first time that people from European descent began settling in Texas, African Americans were present. Through the hardships of slavery and the challenges faced after, African Americans were still able to make amazing contributions from the Texas political system all the way to institutions and companies.
Estevanico (also known as Stephen the Black) arrived in Texas in 1528 with the help of a Spanish explorer. Estevanico played an important role in shaping the land that is now Texas. He was able to translate many Indian languages and helped pave the way for other pioneers of African American descent. In the year of 1792, there were a total of thirty-four African Americans; however most of them were not pioneers like Estevanico.
After Texas' independence from Mexico, slavery rapidly grew during the “Peculiar Institution” era, from 5000 before the revolution to 30% total of the population in 1860. In 1845, the government of the Republic of Texas made life even harder for African Americans by passing a series of slave codes to regulate behavior and restrict the rights of those who were free. Nevertheless, by 1865 on June 19th all African Americans in Texas were finally free. This day has come to be celebrated as “Juneteenth.”
After the Civil War, African Americans faced a different set of challenges. Many cities in Texas passed black codes and African Americans had to live almost everyday in fear. From 1865 to 1868, over fifteen hundred racial crimes were reported. Nevertheless, many African Americans did not back down towards the role of white supremacy. In 1868, ten African Americans went to the Constitutional Convention and assisted in writing a constitution that included protecting everyone's civil rights. From 1868 to 1900, forty-three African Americans served in Texas's state legislature, including George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cunney, who were dominant figures in the Republican Party in the twentieth century.
The reconstruction phase was also the time when many African Americans made the transition from rural to urban areas like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio into areas called “Freedmantowns”. Some decided to stay in the rural setting and influence the cattle boom, which later came to be known as the “Buffalo Soldiers” or “Black Cowboys.”3
Like the rest of the South, the reconstruction phase was short lived and by 1900's many of the political and public gains that the African Americans made had vanished. In the 1890's over 100,000 African Americans voted compared to 1902 where fewer than 5,000 voted as a result of the Poll Tax enforcement. Segregation and violence was ever-present. Because of the non-stop violence, many African Americans moved from Texas to other states in the Northwest. This situation dropped Texas' black population to 20% in the 1900's3.
Even through all the violent behavior and detestation, African American Texans were able to make a name for themselves. The Dallas Express and the Houston Informer are just a few of the newspapers created by African Americans along with grocery stores, funeral homes, churches and colleges such as Bishop, Paul Quinn and Wiley. A number of African Americans also made a name for themselves in the social scene of Texas. Blind Lemon Jefferson and Eddie Durham helped shape the sound of Blues music while John Biggers became one of the most important artists in the nation for his murals. George Foreman and Jack Johnson became huge Texans known in the sports world1.
