Samuel Walker Houston (1864–1945) was a prominent African-American pioneer in the field of education. He was born into slavery on February 12, 1864, in Huntsville, Texas, to Joshua Houston, a slave owned by Sam Houston.
Houston founded the Galilee Community School in 1907, which later became known as the Houstonian Normal and Industrial Institute, in Walker County. In 1930, Houston's school was consolidated into the Huntsville Independent School District. Samuel W. Houston was named supervising principal over nine Walker County schools, including the Samuel W. Houston High School for black students.
In 1995, on the grounds of the old Samuel W. Houston Elementary School, the Huntsville Independent School District, along with the Huntsville Arts Commission and the high school's Ex-Students Association, commissioned artists Larry Zink and Monica Taylor to create The Dreamers, a monument to underscore the contributions made by the black community in the growth and development of Huntsville and Walker County.
Famous quotes containing the words walker and/or houston:
“The gift of loneliness is sometimes a radical vision of society or one’s people that has not previously been taken into account.”
—Alice Walker (b. 1944)
“In Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)