STATE COLORED ORPHANS' HOME. The State Colored Orphans' Home
was located 1½ miles south of Gilmer in Upshur County. The orphanage
was founded by black Baptists in 1900 as a private institution and was
known for many years as Dickson (Dixon) Colored Orphanage after longtime
administrator W. L. Dickson. Plans for the foundation of the orphanage
were first made at a meeting of the state's black Baptist leadership held
at the New Hope Baptist Church in Dallas. The site south of Gilmer was
chosen after citizens from Upshur County offered to donate seventy acres
of land. The charter was officially adopted at the first directors' meeting
on July 25, 1900, at the Upshur County Courthouse in Gilmer. The orphanage
opened on January 4, 1901, with Robert Cooke Buckner serving as the first
president. Under Buckner's tenure, which lasted until 1906, eighty-seven
acres were added, and the number of children grew from six to well over
200. In addition to housing the children, the institution also ran its
own school and farm. W. L. Dickson replaced Buckner in 1906 and served
as chief administrator for the next twenty-five years. The orphanage continued
to operate as a private charitable institution until 1929, when the Texas
legislature voted to take over control under the provision that it would
eventually be moved to Austin. At that time the physical plant consisted
of 610 acres, with forty buildings on the main campus and an additional
thirteen buildings on the farm. Over the next fourteen years the institution
operated under the supervision of the state Board of Control. The average
enrollment during these years was about 100. As an independent school district,
the home emphasized education, recreation, and religious training. The
boys were trained in trades and industries, truck farming, dairying, and
livestock raising, the girls in home economics. G. W. Couch was superintendent
from 1930 to 1934 and P. J. Rowe from 1934 to 1943. The superintendent,
the teaching staff, and all the employees except for the part-time physician
and dentist were black. Successive legislatures failed to appropriate money
for reconditioning and fireproofing the buildings, and in 1943 the Board
of Control decided to close the home and move the remaining children to
the Texas Blind, Deaf, and Orphan School in Austin. The school buildings
and most of the land were sold in 1944. Seventy-two acres were given to
the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University)
for a sweet-potato farm.
Copyright © 2007 - 2009 by Elaine Martin & Etta Withers
Copyright © 2001 - 2007 by Sharon Pierce & Elaine Martin;
all rights reserved.
This information may be used by individuals
for their own personal use, libraries and genealogical societies, however, commercial
use of thisinformation is
strictly prohibited without prior written permission.
If copied, this copyright notice must appear with the information.