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{{Use American English|date=April 2022}}
'''Mary Allen Seminary''' (later called '''Mary Allen Junior College''') is a historic [[African American|black]] [[Women's colleges|women's college]] in [[Crockett, Texas]].
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox university
| name = Mary Allen Seminary
| image_name = Mary Allen Seminary, Crockett, Texas.jpg
| caption = The school c. 1910
| established = {{Start date|1886}}
| closed = {{End date|1972}}
| affiliation =
| address = 803 N. 4th St.
| city = [[Crockett, Texas]]
| former_names = Mary Allen Junior College
| colors =
| sports =
| module = {{Infobox NRHP
| embed = yes
| name = Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls, Administration Building
| nrhp_type =
| image =
| caption =
| coordinates = {{Coord|31|19|38|N|95|27|41|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Texas#USA
| map_label = Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls
| locmap_relief = yes
| built = {{Start date|1886}}
| builder =
| architect =
| architecture = [[Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada|Second Empire]]
| added = May 12, 1983
| area = {{convert|13|acre}}
| refnum = 83004514<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref>
}}
}}

'''Mary Allen Seminary''' (later called '''Mary Allen Junior College''') was the first [[African American|black]] [[Women's colleges|women's college]] in the state of [[Texas]]. Initially a [[parochial school]] founded and run by white [[Presbyterians]], it was restructured in 1924 and became an accredited [[junior college]] with an all-black faculty and black administrator in 1933. The school was closed in 1943, reopened the following year, and operated until 1972.


== History ==
== History ==


=== Seminary ===
The school was founded in 1886 by [[Mary E. Allen]], wife of a [[Presbyterian]] pastor.<ref name="Ball1900">{{cite book|author=Timothy Horton Ball|title=Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900: or, A view of our region through the nineteenth century|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wxYVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA244|accessdate=2 June 2012|year=1900|publisher=Valparaiso|page=244}}</ref> Planning for the institution was started in 1885 by the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church, and was largely influenced by Allen, whose husband was the secretary of the board. In January of 1886, three teachers arrived in Crockett and settled in a rented farm to begin instruction. Allen died in April of 1887, and the school was named in her honor.<ref name="Education1903">{{cite book|author=United States. Bureau of Education|title=Circular of information|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MToWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118|accessdate=2 June 2012|year=1903|pages=118–119}}</ref>
[[File:Mary Allen Seminary.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Mary Allen Seminary historic marker]]
The school was founded in [[Crockett, Texas]] in 1886 by the [[Presbyterian]] pastor Revered Richard Allen, and his wife Mary E. Allen.<ref name="Ball 1900" /><ref name="tx-marker" /> At the time, it was the first and only school that was open to the nearly 200,000 [[freed man|freed]] black women in the state.<ref name="Presbyterian 1886" />

Planning for the institution was started in 1885 by the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church and was largely influenced by Mary, whose husband was the secretary of the board.<ref name="Education1903 p118" /> The city of Crockett was chosen as the location for the school because the area had a large black population, and because a parochial school for black students was already located there.<ref name="tx-marker" /> In January 1886, the first three teachers arrived in Crockett and settled in a rented farm to begin instruction. Mary died in April 1887, and the school was named in her honor.<ref name="Education1903 p118–119" />

At first the school provided a [[liberal arts]] education, but later, due to criticism that it and other institutions like it around the country were not providing black women with necessary [[vocational]] training, the curriculum shifted to subjects such as cooking, dressmaking, and [[millinery]].<ref name="Winegarten Humphrey 1995" /> By the end of its first year, the school had 46 students, and in that year a brick building was erected to house students and faculty. As enrollment grew over the subsequent years, citizens from Crockett and elsewhere in the United States began donating land and money to the school, and by 1891 the campus consisted of 260 acres of land and an additional brick hall, named after the benefactor, [[Michigan]] [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[James McMillan (politician)|James McMillan]].<ref name="Education1903 p119" />

Though the students were all black, the faculty of the seminary was initially composed of white women. In 1921, a Presbyterian newspaper advertised the position of "white lady teachers" at the school, promising 44 dollars per month for an eight-month term, plus "maintenance and railroad fare both ways."<ref name="Herald and Presbyter" />

=== Junior college ===

In 1924, the Texas school board appointed the first black administrator, the Reverend Burt Randall Smith, to restructure Mary Allen Seminary.<ref name="Armwood 2007" /> Over the next eight years, Smith oversaw an overhaul of the curriculum, including expansion of the library and science facilities, and in 1932 the school became an accredited [[junior college]] with an all-black faculty.<ref name="Glasrud Pitre 2008" /> In 1933, the school changed its name to Mary Allen Junior College and became a [[coeducational]] institution.<ref name="Armwood 2007" />

The school was closed in 1943 after a failed proposal to transform it into a black state college. In 1944, it was reopened by the [[National Missionary Baptist Convention of America]] and operated until 1972.<ref name="txonline" />

==See also==
{{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Texas}}
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Houston County, Texas]]

==References==
{{Reflist
| refs =

<ref name="Ball 1900">
{{cite book
| last = Ball
| first = Timothy Horton
| year = 1900
| page = [https://archive.org/details/northwesternind01ballgoog/page/n257 244]
| title = Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900: or, A view of our region through the nineteenth century
| publisher = Valparaiso
| url = https://archive.org/details/northwesternind01ballgoog
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
}}
</ref>

<ref name="tx-marker">
{{cite web
| title = Mary Allen Seminary historical marker
| publisher = Texas Escapes
| work = texasescapes.com
| url = http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/CrockettTexas/Mary-Allen-Seminary-Marker-Crockett-Texas.htm
| url-status=dead
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328041528/http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/CrockettTexas/Mary-Allen-Seminary-Marker-Crockett-Texas.htm
| archive-date=28 March 2006
| access-date = 13 September 2020
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Presbyterian 1886">
{{cite book
| author = Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
| year = 1886
| page = 396
| title = The Presbyterian monthly record
| publisher = Presbyterian Board of Publication
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9nDPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA396
| accessdate = 3 June 2012
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Education1903 p118">
{{cite book
| author = United States. Bureau of Education
| year = 1903
| title = Circular of information
| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office
| page = [https://archive.org/details/circularinforma13educgoog/page/n309 118]
| url = https://archive.org/details/circularinforma13educgoog
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|US Bureau of Education|1903}}
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Education1903 p118–119">
{{harvnb|US Bureau of Education|1903|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MToWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118 118–119]}}
</ref>

<ref name="Winegarten Humphrey 1995">
{{cite book
| last1 = Winegarten
| first1 = Ruthe
| last2 = Humphrey
| first2 = Janet G.
| year = 1995
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/blacktexaswomen10000wine/page/85 85]–86
| title = Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph
| publisher = University of Texas Press
| isbn = 978-0-292-79089-6
| url = https://archive.org/details/blacktexaswomen10000wine
| url-access = registration
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Education1903 p119">
{{harvnb|US Bureau of Education|1903|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MToWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119 119]}}
</ref>

<ref name="Herald and Presbyter">
{{cite book
| title = Herald and Presbyter
| year = 1921
| page = 55
| publisher = Monfort & Company
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QcQpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA55
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Armwood 2007">
{{cite book
| last = Armwood
| first = Jacquelyn L.
| year = 2007
| page = 75
| title = Opportunity and Achievement Through Change: A Biographical Study of Carzetta Snell
| isbn = 978-0-549-46855-4
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lWPi4OhRkaUC&pg=PA75
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
}}
</ref>


<ref name="Glasrud Pitre 2008">
At first the school provided a [[liberal arts]] education, but later, due to criticism that black women needed [[vocational]] training, the curriculum shifted to subjects such as cooking, dressmaking, and [[millinery]].<ref name="WinegartenHumphrey1995">{{cite book|author1=Ruthe Winegarten|author2=Janet G. Humphrey|title=Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XeBHf9GqCOYC&pg=PA320|accessdate=2 June 2012|year=1995|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-79089-6|pages=85-86}}</ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Glasrud
| first1 = Bruce A.
|author2-link=Merline Pitre
| last2 = Pitre
| first2 = Merline
| title = Black Women In Texas History
| date = 3 March 2008
| publisher = Texas A&M University Press
| isbn = 978-1-60344-031-8
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OHlpfowPLvYC&pg=PA108
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
| page = 108
}}
</ref>


<ref name="txonline">
The school was restructured in 1924 and became an accredited [[junior college]] with an all-black faculty a black administrator.<ref name="GlasrudPitre2008">{{cite book|author1=Bruce A. Glasrud|author2=Merline Pitre|title=Black Women In Texas History|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OHlpfowPLvYC&pg=PA108|accessdate=2 June 2012|date=3 March 2008|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-60344-031-8|page=108}}</ref>
{{cite web
| last = Hendrick
| first = John R. "Pete"
| title = Mary Allen Junior College
| publisher = Texas State Historical Association
| work = Handbook of Texas Online
| url = http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kbm08
| accessdate = 2 June 2012
}}
</ref>


}}
== References ==


==External links==
{{reflist}}
{{Commons category-inline}}


{{NRHP in Texas}}
[[Category:Women's universities and colleges]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Schools in Texas]]
[[Category:1886 establishments in Texas]]
[[Category:1972 disestablishments in Texas]]
[[Category:Defunct schools in Texas]]
[[Category:Education in Houston County, Texas]]
[[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1972]]
[[Category:Former women's universities and colleges in the United States]]
[[Category:Female seminaries in the United States]]
[[Category:History of women in Texas]]
[[Category:Historically black universities and colleges in Texas]]
[[Category:Historically segregated African-American schools in Texas]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1886]]

Latest revision as of 06:55, 1 July 2024

Mary Allen Seminary
The school c. 1910
Former names
Mary Allen Junior College
Active1886 (1886)–1972 (1972)
Address
803 N. 4th St.
,
Crockett, Texas
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls, Administration Building
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls is located in Texas
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls is located in the United States
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls
Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls
Coordinates31°19′38″N 95°27′41″W / 31.32722°N 95.46139°W / 31.32722; -95.46139
Area13 acres (5.3 ha)
Built1886 (1886)
Architectural styleSecond Empire
NRHP reference No.83004514[1]
Added to NRHPMay 12, 1983

Mary Allen Seminary (later called Mary Allen Junior College) was the first black women's college in the state of Texas. Initially a parochial school founded and run by white Presbyterians, it was restructured in 1924 and became an accredited junior college with an all-black faculty and black administrator in 1933. The school was closed in 1943, reopened the following year, and operated until 1972.

History

[edit]

Seminary

[edit]
Mary Allen Seminary historic marker

The school was founded in Crockett, Texas in 1886 by the Presbyterian pastor Revered Richard Allen, and his wife Mary E. Allen.[2][3] At the time, it was the first and only school that was open to the nearly 200,000 freed black women in the state.[4]

Planning for the institution was started in 1885 by the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church and was largely influenced by Mary, whose husband was the secretary of the board.[5] The city of Crockett was chosen as the location for the school because the area had a large black population, and because a parochial school for black students was already located there.[3] In January 1886, the first three teachers arrived in Crockett and settled in a rented farm to begin instruction. Mary died in April 1887, and the school was named in her honor.[6]

At first the school provided a liberal arts education, but later, due to criticism that it and other institutions like it around the country were not providing black women with necessary vocational training, the curriculum shifted to subjects such as cooking, dressmaking, and millinery.[7] By the end of its first year, the school had 46 students, and in that year a brick building was erected to house students and faculty. As enrollment grew over the subsequent years, citizens from Crockett and elsewhere in the United States began donating land and money to the school, and by 1891 the campus consisted of 260 acres of land and an additional brick hall, named after the benefactor, Michigan United States Senator James McMillan.[8]

Though the students were all black, the faculty of the seminary was initially composed of white women. In 1921, a Presbyterian newspaper advertised the position of "white lady teachers" at the school, promising 44 dollars per month for an eight-month term, plus "maintenance and railroad fare both ways."[9]

Junior college

[edit]

In 1924, the Texas school board appointed the first black administrator, the Reverend Burt Randall Smith, to restructure Mary Allen Seminary.[10] Over the next eight years, Smith oversaw an overhaul of the curriculum, including expansion of the library and science facilities, and in 1932 the school became an accredited junior college with an all-black faculty.[11] In 1933, the school changed its name to Mary Allen Junior College and became a coeducational institution.[10]

The school was closed in 1943 after a failed proposal to transform it into a black state college. In 1944, it was reopened by the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and operated until 1972.[12]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ Ball, Timothy Horton (1900). Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900: or, A view of our region through the nineteenth century. Valparaiso. p. 244. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Mary Allen Seminary historical marker". texasescapes.com. Texas Escapes. Archived from the original on March 28, 2006. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1886). The Presbyterian monthly record. Presbyterian Board of Publication. p. 396. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  5. ^ United States. Bureau of Education (1903). Circular of information. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 118. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  6. ^ US Bureau of Education 1903, pp. 118–119
  7. ^ Winegarten, Ruthe; Humphrey, Janet G. (1995). Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph. University of Texas Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-0-292-79089-6. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  8. ^ US Bureau of Education 1903, p. 119
  9. ^ Herald and Presbyter. Monfort & Company. 1921. p. 55. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Armwood, Jacquelyn L. (2007). Opportunity and Achievement Through Change: A Biographical Study of Carzetta Snell. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-549-46855-4. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  11. ^ Glasrud, Bruce A.; Pitre, Merline (March 3, 2008). Black Women In Texas History. Texas A&M University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-60344-031-8. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  12. ^ Hendrick, John R. "Pete". "Mary Allen Junior College". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
[edit]

Media related to Mary Allen Seminary at Wikimedia Commons

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