RUSK COUNTY, Texas — CBS19 is commemorating Black History Month all month long with stories unique to East Texas.
Before integrating with Henderson ISD, Black students attended Concord Rosenwald School in the southeastern part of Rusk County.
Concord is one of the oldest settlements in Rusk County and located about five miles east of Mount Enterprise. In the 1930s, there were 25 residents and six businesses. In the next decade, the population rose to 125 inhabitants while there was four businesses and a school, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
In later years, the population decreased and the businesses dwindled, but the Concord Rosenwald School building, which opened in 1925, remains.
CBS19's Mariah Conduff took a trip to Mount Enterprise to see what former students are doing to help preserve a piece of Black history in rural East Texas. She even stumbled across a surprise of her own.
"It's such a beautiful history. My mom's family came to this area as slaves; those slaves stayed and built up their community, built schools (and) churches," former student Alpheus Moss said. "When I come back, it reminds me of where I started. I don't ever forget where I started."
A building with decades of memories is now only a shell of what it once was.
"It was a white building. We had a vocational building, an elementary building and a gymnasium," said Moss, who graduated as valedictorian among a class of 18 at Concord.
Fast forward to present day – the only building still standing is the high school.
Alumni Willie Adams attended Concord from 1953 to 1967.
During a time of racial disparities and segregation, Moss and Adams said as boys their time at school was like any other kid.
Adams recalled really appreciating the teachers, while Moss remembered playing sports and the notoriety of the school's basketball team.
Despite the normalcy, Moss said he was aware of the inequalities.
"That's just how it was," Moss said. "We knew we got the hand-me-down books and equipment."
Though segregation in public schools ended in 1954, Concord stayed open until 1970 – when it integrated with Henderson ISD.
"My baby brother was 11 years old when he had to leave school here and go to Henderson, but the integration part never really came up much," Moss said.
As time went on, the white paint disappeared and Concord school became a distant memory hidden behind the boarded exterior, but the Concord High School Alumni Association is working to change that.
"Our goal is to turn it into a museum," Moss said.
Adams said preserving the old school building will remind future generations about East Texas history.
"It’s very important to preserve it– the history and then so my children’s grandchildren can come back and see what we went through," Adams said.
Our own Mariah Conduff got to see a real-life, personal example of how preserving history helps connect the past to the present. She learned her great-grandmother was a student at the Concord school and graduated in 1953.
The school will be receiving a historical marker in the coming months.
Those who would like to donate to support the transformation into a museum can make checks payable to CHSAA and send the money to CHSAA, 505 Bastrop St. #309, Houston, Texas 77003-2234.