In this literature review, we share foundational knowledge about the oral tradition within African American communities. We also recount the recorded history of the Dunbar neighborhood to reveal its gaps and limitations.
2.2. The Dominant Perspective of the History of the Dunbar Neighborhood
The established recorded history of Texas and the Dunbar neighborhood was not derived from local stories. Instead, it was derived from academic research of particular sources. We define the official historical record as documents produced by governmental agencies and widely disseminated accounts such as newspapers. This section summarizes those accounts.
Some historic resource surveys (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996), documentation by historical societies (
Van Oudekerke 2011;
Texas Historical Commission 1988,
1990), and class projects (
Renick et al. 2006;
San Marcos Main Street Program n.d.) have also documented essential people and places in Dunbar history. However, these details were acquired by scholars disconnected from the lived experiences of African Americans in Dunbar. Once a thriving community at the center of civil rights activities in Central Texas, the Dunbar neighborhood has evolved in many ways—some for the worse. Counter-life stories help expose the microcosmic causes and effects of the drastic changes that the neighborhood underwent, which counter the prevailing, majority perspective about Dunbar’s African Americans’ experiences. The history of African American settlement in San Marcos is sparsely documented since the end of the Civil War (i.e., 9 April 1865), as the overwhelming majority of San Marcos’ African American history consists of oral histories. As a result, textual documentation can only paint an incomplete picture of the reality on the ground.
A local governmental survey became an important source of official history. In 1996, a historic resource survey submitted by the City of San Marcos surveyed both the Dunbar (i.e., historically African American), located in the Purgatory Creek watershed, and Guadalupe (i.e., historically Mexican-American) neighborhoods. It reported that these two neighborhoods were “hampered by the lack of documentary evidence, thus resulting in a reliance on interviews with local historians and oral history” (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996, p. 12;
Stovall et al. 1986). Other historical accounts support or expand the 1996 historic resource survey findings, although they are not solely focused on the community.
The city’s local history regarding the Dunbar neighborhood and African American people in general, both as slaves and as freedmen, is sparse. The survey went as far as to report that much of the area’s historical city directories, libraries, and archives do not date any further than 1950 (
Texas Historical Commission 1990). According to
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. (
1996), Dunbar was first settled by Anglo farmers, and the Dunbar neighborhood itself was populated by African American freedmen directly following the Civil War who lived in small enclaves. These individuals worked on the local farms, in affluent white neighborhoods as domestic servants, and at local businesses like gins, lumber companies, and warehouses.
The Freedmen’s Bureau played a part in Dunbar’s history. As early as 1868, the Freedmen’s Bureau, in acknowledgment of Dunbar’s population, helped found the Freedmen’s school, which operated out of a church. Much of the neighborhood’s social activities and schooling were fostered in the community’s churches. “Churches played a critical role for the neighborhood both as a religious and social center” (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996). Evidence is present that the Dunbar neighborhood was well established as a segregated community within a decade following Emancipation. Numerous African American businesses operated along Martin Luther King Street, known as “The Beat” and, “…these commercial establishments served the needs of the African American residents who were often denied services in Anglo businesses during the period of segregation” (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996).
The history of white San Marcos residents also reveals details about Dunbar’s African American history and race relations. The Heritage Association of San Marcos, Inc. commissioned Robert
Van Oudekerke (
2011) to produce the book “Historic San Marcos: An Illustrated History”, which provided illustrations of the Anglo-American settlers in San Marcos and their contributions with few examples of contributions by African Americans.
Van Oudekerke (
2011) states that “San Marcos has been inhabited for almost 12,000 years” (p. 9). His historical account begins in June of 1861 when “Spanish Governor Domingo Teran de Los Rios arrived at the San Marcos river’s headwaters to find thousands of Indians from at least six different tribes.” He further described the historical events that led to the “first white settler of the modern-day San Marcos” (p. 10). W. W. Moon. Moon purchased “a Negro man named Harry, a blacksmith by trade, about twenty-eight years of age” (p. 10) to be a blacksmith in his shop. The Hays County of Texas record warranted Harry as “sound and healthy in every respect and a slave for life.” He also mentioned white female schoolteachers (i.e., Mrs. Melissa Charlot and Mary Sublet) who taught the “children of slaves” (p. 47). He believed “only a few families in Hays county actually owned slaves” (p. 23).
Despite the adverse effects of the Depression after WWII and segregation, then current structures illustrated wealth in the community. The majority of buildings were detached dwellings, many of which had garages, which illustrated the owners could afford an additional freestanding structure. While the writer of “The Economic Impact of the Dunbar Neighborhood on San Marcos” report (n.d.) is unknown, it comprises three historical accounts: Dunbar Neighborhood, 1930’s by Shannon Williams, The Dunbar Neighborhood in the 1950s by Jonathan M. Palmer, and Dunbar Heritage and Museums District by Dr. Gene Bourgeois, the former Chair of the Department of History at Texas State University and current Provost. In Shannon Williams’ historical article, she attributed the growth and prosperity of the Dunbar community to the activities of the historic First Baptist Church and prominent individuals such as Ulysses Cephas. She indicated that the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of 1932, which were recorded by traveling surveyors illustrate the economic worth of the area. Finally, she indicated the occurrence of fires in Dunbar and San Marcos were quite frequent. For example, Dunbar lost several buildings due to fires in 1932. Jonathan M. Palmer authored a historical fiction article recounting historical sites in Dunbar, which included descriptions of locations and social centers in the neighborhood. In Dr. Gene Bourgeois’s account, he shared a plan for a multi-acre heritage, cultural tourism, and economic development initiative primarily located in the Dunbar Historic District (i.e., established in 2003). This integrated development project reflected several goals identified in the “1996 San Marcos Horizons Master Plan.” It included involvement from the following departments at Texas State University: Geography, Family and Consumer Sciences, and the Department of History’s Center for Texas Music History. This initiative birthed the annual Eddie Durham Jazz Festival/Celebration hosted by the university’s School of Music.
Prominent individuals lived in the Dunbar neighborhood of San Marcos, TX, and their stories also link the neighborhood to histories of segregation and slavery. One of the most famous persons to have originated from San Marcos was Ulysses Cephas, a local blacksmith and community leader. Cephas was born in San Marcos on 13 June 1884 to Elizabeth Allen Cephas and her husband Joseph Cephas, former slaves (
Texas Historical Commission 1988;
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996). The
Texas Historical Commission (
1988) acknowledged that Joseph Cephas was a slave in San Marcos during its early history dating back to 1850, a period that is still shrouded in obscurity. Joseph Cephas arrived in San Marcos when he was purchased by William Thompson in 1850 at a slave market in New Orleans, Louisiana, on behalf of Sarah Burleson, the widow of General Burleson, founders of Hays Country in 1848. Thompson was the owner of both Thompson Island and the slave plantation. When Joseph Cephas was finally free from bondage, he built a home for his wife and son in San Marcos, where we would teach his son his trade of being a blacksmith. When Ulysses came of age, he would open up a blacksmithing business of his own where he became extremely talented at his trade and operated for forty years. Paul Rutledge, one of several essayists who contributed to the 1988 Texas historical marker application, lamented that “Cephas was the last public blacksmith and horseshoe marker in the central Texas locale and many of his talents are legends today” (
Texas Historical Commission 1988, p. 27).
Cephas played a prominent role as a community leader in the Dunbar neighborhood, mainly in the community’s church and religious activities. He attended the First Baptist Church in Dunbar. In 1924, he became a church trustee, where he helped with various church activities such as dinners, baptisms, recreation, and other activities (
Texas Historical Commission 1988). Cephas was also a talented musician who sang in his church choir. He was part of a community marching band containing forty-five members marched in parades in San Marcos, New Braunfels, Waelder, and Austin. The band was particularly active every year during the annual June 19th Texas Emancipation Day celebration. In the 1920s, Cephas built a home for him and his wife on 217 Comal St. which still exists today. In 2003, the City of San Marcos bought the home to refurbish it and preserve it as a local landmark for
$43,799 using federal funds after many Dunbar residents lobbied the city to take action (
O’Rourke 2013;
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996). The Cephas House is an essential landmark of the Dunbar neighborhood. It is located just feet from the historic First Baptist Church and the Cephas House on 231 Martin Luther King Dr. The House was constructed by Cephas himself and his family during the 1920s. The home’s architecture is reminiscent of those in the surrounding area, utilizing the “shotgun” style in common in African American communities in New Orleans and Mississippi (
Peterson 2013;
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996). The House is still in use today as a community event center.
The Calaboose African American History Museum keeps the legacy of the Dunbar neighborhood. It also further substantiates Dunbar’s history of segregation and racial disparity, because it was once a segregated jail for African Americans. Located at 200 W. Martin Luther King Drive, the Calaboose (Spanish for jail) was first built in 1873 consisting of a half-brink and wood construction and served as Hays county’s first official jailhouse and was later used as a segregated jailhouse for African American inmates (
Texas Historical Commission 1990). In 1885, the building would be repurposed as a community recreation center in what is now considered the Dunbar neighborhood. During World War II, African American service members stationed at the new Gary Army Air Force Base used the Calaboose as the primary location to host their U.S.O. Meetings (
Texas Historical Commission 1990). In 1954, the Calaboose would again be converted into a community center for the Dunbar neighborhood. In 1990, after years of disrepair and neglect, the Calaboose underwent a considerable overhaul led by Johnnie Armstead, and by 1997 she founded the Calaboose African American History museum (
Brantley 2018;
Herod 2018). The Calaboose museum contains a wide assortment of memorabilia in its collection from the civil rights era, the Tuskegee Airmen, slave relics, newspaper clippings, local memorabilia, and an authentic Ku Klux Klan hooded robe donated to the museum by a San Marcos resident, yet another indication of a past of racial tensions in the community (
Brantley 2018).
Additional historical structures—a church and a school—also demonstrate the legacy of Dunbar’s racial tension. The original historic First Baptist Church was built in 1866 by Reverend Moses John, who founded the Church on Guadalupe Street (
Texas Historical Commission 1988). However, in 1873, the Ku Klux Klan set the Church on fire and caused significant damage. The Church was later rebuilt in 1908 on 219 Martin Luther King Dr., where it still stands today. In 1986, the Church would later be vacated once a third structure was built to replace it (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996;
O’Rourke 2013). The Church is characterized by its two large bell towers, gabled porch, and double-door entrance. The Church is also conveniently located next to the historic Cephas house and across the street from the historic Calaboose African American history museum. Finally, the Dunbar School/Community Center is a fixture in the neighborhood. The Dunbar school or Colored school was segregated. It was initially constructed in the 1880s for Anglo children but was later moved to the Dunbar neighborhood and designated a segregated school (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996).
Van Oudekerke (
2011) documented that a school board of examiners was formed in 1858 to organize the “Negro School” (p. 47) in San Marcos, but the Negro School was not organized until 13 January 1877. In 1961, the school was renamed to Dunbar by the school board in honor of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, an acclaimed African American poet.
Other historical accounts have documented the oral histories or stories of some Dunbar residents and congregants of Dunbar churches as influencers. In the first edition of
The Ties That Bind book by
Renick et al. (
2006), students conducted an oral history project with 21 senior residents of San Marcos to “address some of the issues of bias and prejudice that occurred or were occurring in the San Marcos community” (p. xii). While this study did not focus solely on the Dunbar community, nine of the 21 participants were African Americans that either lived in Dunbar or lived in San Marcos but attended an African American Dunbar church: Harvey Miller, Marguerite Cheatham Hill, Ollie Giles, Rose Lee Brooks, Reverend Herman Foster, Lucille Cheatham, Reverend Alfonso Washington, Forest Manjang, and Charlie Williams. Each story provided information about the participants’ origins and accomplishments, summarized into no more than four pages to provide a general overview of their experiences. This account offered a glimpse of African Americans’ lived experiences in the brief narratives of these participants.
Some of the accounts offered include the following: Ms. Giles recommended that former slaves’ names be placed in “visible and prominent places around the town of San Marcos” (p. 40). Ms. Rose Brooks recalled her experience in the 1980s when she “spoke out” (p. 49) at a school board hearing concerning a school superintendent who attempted to impose policies that were racist in nature. Ms. Lucille Cheatham (“Mama Red”) recalled when a “young man drowned and how much that hurt her” (p. 62). Mr. Charlie Williams described his experience as a young boy in San Marcos balancing school, social activities, and working a part-time job picking cotton. He graduated from Dunbar Colored High School and went on to become the commissioner for urban renewal. Mr. Malcolm Fleming (Anglo man) pushed for the integration of schools in San Marcos when he discovered its unsafe conditions. He said “While I was on the School Board I made a trip down to what they called Dunbar; it was supposed to be a Colored school. I walked in there and almost broke my leg by stepping through the floor. They had an open-gas heater in there with asbestos. Half of the schoolbooks did not have any backs on them. It was a horrible situation. They could not have that. So, I went back to the School Board and made an effort to integrate San Marcos.” While this resource provides valuable insight into the lives of notable African American figures in San Marcos and the Dunbar community and jewels of information concerning African Americans’ racialized experiences, this account’s purpose was not to illuminate the experiences resulting from racial bias and prejudice or racism. This omission seems to downplay the impact of racism and prejudice in the community.
2.3. Counter-History Account
While many elements of this dominant history are accurate and useful, other documents such as the census and historical markers kept by the Texas Historical Commission, and artifacts, newspaper clippings, church histories (e.g.,
First Baptist Church N.B.C. n.d.), and slave relics held by African American-led organizations, such as the Calaboose African American History Museum and the Dunbar Heritage Association in San Marcos, help reveal the cracks and gaps in the traditional historical accounts. While this historical account is not exhaustive, it fills some of the cracks and gaps in the traditional historical accounts.
Even though the official historical account reports incidents of Ku Klux Klan activity (i.e., burning old first Baptist Church, authentic Ku Klux Klan hooded robe donated to Calaboose), it lacks connection to lived experiences or encounters with slavery or racism. When the Texas legislature designated San Marcos as the county seat for Hays County, the 1850 census indicated 378 residents, 128 of whom were slaves (
Butler 2016, p. 9;
Crouch and Madaras 2007). Moreover, in the 1860 schedule-2 slave census for Hays County, it was reported that some 94 persons had owned slaves, which equated to approximately 797 slaves in the entire county. For example, according to the Heritage Association of San Marcos, the Thompson family moved to San Marcos to escape a yellow fever epidemic that ravished Alabama and Mississippi and brought several slaves with them (
Kimmel 2006, p. 86;
Crouch 1999). The Thompson family used slave labor to construct a series of ditches for irrigation to power their sawmill and gin on the family’s plantation (
Stovall et al. 1986, p. 172;
Butler 2016). In a recent guest column in the San Marcos Daily Record by Jordan
Buckley (
2019) entitled
Let’s Acknowledge the Role of Slave Labor, he addresses this same issue. He states, “Violent white supremacy is an unshakable reality of San Marcos history. However, white supremacy continues to thrive when we erase the contributions of those whose forced labor yielded local landmarks that today we cherish—and instead amend history to solely admire the enslavers.”
Furthermore, the official documents do not identify Dunbar as being situated in the Purgatory Creek flood plain or note other forms of geographic and environmental racism that has affected the neighborhood. Early African American families were allowed to live in San Marcos along the Purgatory Creek floodplain (i.e., the Dunbar community) as this land was not considered desirable for white settlers. As small enclaves grew in what is now known as the Dunbar area, “The Purgatory Creek watershed continually threatened the area with flooding” (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996, p. 12). As time passed and the city did not provide for the African American population, the first African American men to own property in San Marcos were five individuals who purchased land for a cemetery in 1893 to dispose of the dead outside of the floodplain properly. In the early 1970s, one of the worst floods to hit the area occurred, and instead of rebuilding new structures, “… there is an indication that existing houses were simply moved into the area rather than new construction replacing homes washed away by the floods” (
Knight Newlan and Associates, Inc. 1996, p. 12).
There is some debate amongst academic circles about the existence of a freedmen’s colony within San Marcos proper. Several freedmen’s colonies had been documented in the surrounding areas, and the Freedmen’s Bureau organized the initial Colored school in San Marcos. However, African Americans were indeed present in San Marcos as early as 1850, but not all freedmen. The Calaboose jailhouse’s presence in what is now the Dunbar neighborhood may dispel the notion that Dunbar could have been a freedmen’s colony. The Calaboose jailhouse, which is now the African American History Museum, was first constructed in 1873 and served as Hays county’s first official jailhouse and later used as a segregated jailhouse for African American inmates (
Kimmel 2006). The date of its construction indicates that it was built post-emancipation within the geographic confines of the Dunbar neighborhood. An inference can be made that the presence of a segregated jailhouse in the Dunbar area would not be analogous to an autonomous African American community like those found in Antioch, Clarksville, and Cedar Creek. This inference could indicate that the Dunbar area did not house a freedmen’s colony even though the Freedmen’s Bureau provided educational assistance for the slaves regulated to remain within the boundaries of the Dunbar neighborhood.
The historic Dunbar neighborhood was once marked as a “thriving community” shattered by segregation, outmigration, business closures, demolished buildings, and the onslaught of gentrification (
Dunbar Heritage Association n.d.). Historical accounts of the Dunbar neighborhood have not shed light on the damaging effects of slavery, tragedies, and contextual influences that have plagued the community. For over a century, Dunbar has faced numerous barriers to preserving its history, culture, and overall economic prosperity. Dr. Elvin Holt (Calaboose President) and Mr. Richard Gachot (
Batura 2010) further described the diminishing footprint of African Americans in San Marcos: “Decades ago, African-Americans comprised about 40–50 percent of the San Marcos population… According to the federal government’s 2006–2008 American Community Survey (A.C.S.), 5.2 percent of San Marcos residents are African-American (para 8).” Dr. Holt said, “The African-American presence in this neighborhood is being slowly erased. And I don’t think it’s intentional, because there’s a lot of construction going on. And those people who have lived here know that property that was originally owned by Blacks has passed into other hands, and so new people who come into town don’t know that Black folk ever lived there.” (para 9).
Fire and flooding played a large role in damaging community resources like historical documents and buildings. As the Dunbar area is flooded at least once every twenty-five years, formal written documents are challenging to find. Fires have played a destructive role in the neighborhood as well. Dunbar School was destroyed by fire, forcing educational institutions to operate out of churches. In recent years, the neglected structure has suffered considerable wear, and members of the Dunbar community have struggled to preserve this piece of their history (
Texas State University 1996). The original Old First Baptist Church in Dunbar was burned to the ground by Ku Klux Klan members in 1873. Though this structure still stands, it has fallen into the late stages of disrepair. Tragedies such as these have resulted in ongoing community efforts (e.g., Dora Lee Brady Community Center, Old First Baptist Church Restoration Project) to rebuild this structure and to preserve other historic structures and spaces in Dunbar (
Batura 2010;
Click and Olvera 2018;
Johnson 2010). Building upon these efforts, in October of 2018, the San Marcos Main Street Program told the public that the Church would be receiving a
$150,000 grant to help renovate the Church and other historically significant structures in the area (
Herod 2018).
As original written records and newer records were lost, Dunbar residents and congregants maintain their history through oral stories, remaining buildings, and traditions. Interviews are the best method in which to uncover Dunbar’s past. Historical accounts do not credit Dunbar residents and African American-led organizations’ efforts, including Dunbar churches, to revitalize and preserve the culture, historic structures, and history of African Americans in San Marcos. African American-led organizations, such as the Calaboose African American History Museum and the Dunbar Heritage Association, have toiled to preserve the history and culture of the Dunbar neighborhood in San Marcos with minimal support. The Calaboose African American History Museum was formed in 1997 to preserve African Americans’ history in San Marcos and Hays County. Since 1978, the Dunbar Heritage Association has preserved African American history by promoting festivals, performing arts, parades, and pageantry.
Moreover, African American churches in the Dunbar neighborhood have historically served as “the cradle of the Negroes economic, cultural, and spiritual life” in San Marcos (
Dunbar Heritage Association n.d.). Churches have always played an essential role in African American communities throughout the U.S. (
Billingsley and Caldwell 1991), and the historic churches in Dunbar are no different. They served a social hub for political, religious, and recreational activities that brought members of the African community closer together, particularly in the Jim Crow era.
Much of Dunbar’s authentic history is intertwined in the histories of Dunbar’s churches. For instance, (
First Baptist Church N.B.C. (
n.d.) reports that “Reverend Moses Johns and a small group of believers organized the
Colored Baptist Church Zion (CBCZ) in 1866 and erected a sanctuary on property located on Guadalupe Street where Tuttle Lumber Company” (p. 1) once stood. CBCZ predated Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church—“the oldest African American congregation in San Marcos” (
HMdb.org 2020, para 1). However, “the local Ku Klux Klan burned the sanctuary on Guadalupe Street in ca1873 in an attempt to capture a Black man who was thought to have been hiding in the church” (para 1). While the old First Baptist Church is one of the prominent church structures in Dunbar, Dunbar is home to six predominately African American churches representing the remnant of African Americans in Dunbar and San Marcos: Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (established 1875), Greater Bethel Baptist Church (established 1883), First Baptist Church N.B.C. (established 1908), Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church (established 1964), Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ (unknown), and Antioch Church of our Lord Jesus Christ (unknown) (
First Baptist Church N.B.C. n.d.;
Groundspeak 2017;
HMdb.org 2020;
Sonier 2019). Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd, assistant professor at Texas State University, is also leading an effort to “ReclaimDunbar” by forming a local cultural district with the Texas Commission on the Arts (
Albiges 2018).
The Dunbar neighborhood’s official documentation and accounts show us that key stakeholders and places were essential to the community. However, this study shows how counter-life stories collected through this study reveal these discrete details from official history and add context and depth to uncover what made these key details so important. While not exhaustive, our counter-story expands the overall, majority perspective by adding these previously hidden truths.