HARMON JEROME McALLISTER - H. J. McALLISTER JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Narrative submitted for
historical marker
By Shirley L. Brown
Harmon Jerome McAllister was a role model for students and fellow citizens.
He was a shining example of an educator who loved his work, his community and his church as shown by his leadership and involvement.
In appreciation of his services to the school district and community, the new H. J. McAllister Junior High School was named in his honor.
Harmon Jerome McAllister was born August 5, 1909, in Quitman, Wood County, TX, the son of Hugh Hunter McAllister (1876-1964) and June Kendrick (1878-1914).
At the age of four, his mother died, and he and a younger sister went to live with his aunt Goldie Kendrick Cartwright (1882-1920) until he was twelve years of age.
After the death of his aunt, he returned to live with his father and stepmother.
After graduating from Mineola High School, McAllister attended college at North Texas State Teachers College in Denton, Texas.
The Denton Record-Chronicle, August 24, 1933, listed Harmon Jerome McAllister as receiving the Bachelor of Science Degree from North Texas State Teachers College.
In college, McAllister majored in business administration with a minor in economics.
His alma mater honored him with membership in Tau Omega Pi, a national scholastic society in business administration.
McAllister began his teaching career in Carlton, Hamilton County, Texas, in 1934.
He moved to Matagorda County to serve as a business administration teacher and tennis coach at the Bay City High School in 1936.
After teaching business administration in the high school for five years, McAllister was named principal in 194l.
Mary Belle Richeson (1916-2010), daughter of Watkins L. Richeson (1887-1950) and Vera Frazier (1878-1960), moved to Bay City to teach at the high school.
“Mr. Mac,” as Harmon was affectionately called, and Mary Belle were married on July 20, 1941.
They had three children: Jerome Watt, Julianne, and William Robert (1949-1993).
After Mr. Mac’s death, Mary Belle married John William “Bill” Ingram [1900-1983] on November 23, 1973.
In the summer of 1944, McAllister replaced Donald Hatch as Director of the USO until Richard Gusman returned from military service and assumed the position of director.
McAllister served as high school principal of Bay City High School until 1946 when he resigned his position and accepted the newly created post of business manager for the Bay City Independent School District.
McAllister assumed his new duties July 1, 1946.
He had charge of the financial and business affairs of the school district.
In 1948, H. J. McAllister, business manager of the public schools, was elected president of the Bay City Lions Club for the new one year term.
McAllister left the school system in 1949 to become office manager for the Bay-Tex Garage.
During the time that he was associated with this firm, he served on the Bay City School Board as a member and as its president for the 1951-52 school term.
H. J. McAllister, was appointed Matagorda County Auditor effective March 1, 1956.
The new county auditor had long been a very active civic worker of the community, being a director of the chamber of commerce, chairman of various chamber committees, and an active Bay City Lions Club member.
He held several top posts with the local school system prior to becoming county auditor.
In 1957, McAllister received a certificate of distinction from the Chamber of Commerce.
In January, 1960 McAllister was honored as Outstanding Man for 1959 by the Chamber of Commerce.
McAllister had been active in the Bay City Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Community Concert Association, Parent Teacher Association, Band Parents Club, Bay City Commandery, and Boy Scout work.
As a member of First Methodist Church, McAllister served as teacher, chairman of the official board and head of various committees in the local church.
He held several important positions in the Texas Methodist Conference, as well as in the district.
H. J. McAllister was appointed the new Superintendent of Bay City Schools effective July 1, 1960.
McAllister held four certificates: superintendent, principal, elementary and high school.
McAllister held this position until his death on June 17, 1963.
The football stadium and buildings for both Bay City and Hilliard High Schools were built while he was business manager.
Plans for Pierce School and Tenie Holmes School were formulated while he was a board member.
Linnie Roberts School and Bay City Junior High School were completed during his tenure as superintendent.
Harmon Jerome McAllister died June 17, 1963, in Houston, Harris County, Texas, age 53, after unexpected complications after surgery, and was buried in Cedarvale Cemetery, Bay City, Texas.
In June, 1963, the H. J. McAllister Memorial Student Loan Fund was established by his students, former students, and friends to assist students in completing their higher education. The fund is operated under the auspices of the Board of Trustees of the First Methodist Church.
The H. J. McAllister baseball field was dedicated in his honor in 1964.
A resolution passed by the Texas House of Representatives stated “WHEREAS, he was a member of the First Methodist Church in Bay City and actively participated in its functions by serving as a member of the Board of Stewards, a church school teacher, and a worker with the Methodist Youth Fellowship; and WHEREAS, his life was dedicated to the education of the young people of Texas, and through the years he served as a high school teacher, a principal and business manager, and from 1960 until his death, as Superintendent of the Bay City School system. He served on the Bay City school board as a member and as the president; “Mr. Mac,” as he was known by all those who loved him, was truly an outstanding person. . . Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the fifty-ninth Legislature adjourn this day in memory of the worthy life of Harmon Jerome McAllister, that a page in the House Journal be set aside in respect to him, and that a copy of this Resolution be sent to his family with our deepest personal regards.” Signed Ben Barnes, Speaker of the House; Resolution adopted by a rising vote of the House on March 9, 1965, Dorothy Hallman, Chief Clerk of the House.
After integration of public schools, the existing junior high school was not large enough to accommodate the additional African American students necessitating the need for a second junior high.
At the October 18, 1966, meeting of the Bay City Independent School District school board possible sites for a new junior high school were discussed.
At a special meeting of the school board, January 31, 1967, a motion passed unanimously to submit an offer for approximately thirty acres of land in the Brown Estate adjoining the Thompson subdivision.
On June 7, 1967, the school board unanimously passed a motion to name the new junior high the H. J. McAllister Junior High School.
The announcement was made at the twenty-fifth reunion of the 1942 Bay City High school graduation class that the new $1.5 million junior high school would be named for the late H. J. McAllister, former school superintendent, with a projected completion date for the 1968-69 school year.
In a letter to Mr. McAllister’s widow, Dr. Rodney Cathey, Superintendent of the Bay City Independent School District, wrote, “The Board of Education is naming this school in honor of the late Mr. McAllister because of his years of service to this community and to this school district.
“The contribution of Mr. McAllister to the education of the children of this community will so be recognized in years to come. Certainly the Board of Education could not have chosen a more appropriate name for the new school than The H. J. McAllister Junior High School.”
To alleviate crowding of the existing Bay City Junior High School, African American students were given a choice of attending junior high at the Bay City Junior High or Hilliard (an African American school) until the additional junior high was completed.
About 100 students elected to continue at Hilliard.
During a special meeting of the school board on March 9, 1969, the total plant at McAllister School was surveyed by the entire group, and upon a motion passed unanimously by the trustees present, accepted the building and agreed to pay the full amount due to Drymalla Construction Co.
The school board on May 20, 1969, accepted a recommendation that the McAllister school colors be Maroon and Gold and the mascot be Cougars. H. J. McAllister Junior High, 4100 Hiram Brandon, was situated on 31.657 acres, in the Elisha Hall League, Abst. 45.
