Lack of education for the African-American population has been a persistent thread throughout U.S. history.
Prior to the Civil War, it was illegal in many states for African-Americans to be taught to read and write.
There are the stories of slaves, usually the offspring of a white master and a slave mother, who were taught to read and write; however, this was not the usual case.
Following the Civil War, schools started educating both white and African-American students.
By 1904, there were 32 independent school districts; 19 of them instructed a total of 764 African American students.
Conditions in the schools varied from homes to schoolrooms to barns.
The first mention of a “Negro” school in Palacios is in the April 4, 1929 edition of the Palacios Beacon: “during the 1928-29 school year...a Negro school has been maintained at a cost of approximately $300.00.”
