CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — A new Black history mural now adorns a wall at the Cherokee County Courthouse, but who and what it represents is far greater.
The Cherokee County Historical Commission and a dedicated committee of people invested countless hours to uncover the deep roots of African Americans in Cherokee County and their many accomplishments.
Imagine walking these halls of the Cherokee County Courthouse, filled with so much history, or just opening a history book and not seeing yourself represented.
"I moved back here about five years ago and Judge Davis and I was talking about the courthouse and I noticed there was a minus of Afro American history displayed on the wall. And they said, Why don't you go to work on it," explained George Martin.
"And then the idea came of a mural and then it evolved into doing the photographs on the vinyl, and it just blossomed," said Cherokee County Judge Chris Davis.
It's African American history that deserves to be told and preserved in Cherokee County.
"I came to the Cherokee County Historical Commission to start my research," Martin said.
George Martin grew up in Alto and now serves on the Cherokee County Historical Commission. He helped get the project off the ground.
"And I had a wealth of knowledge that was saved from the county superintendent's office about older Black schools. You know which allowed us to get the history of a lot of them. Most began a formal education through the Rosenwald program. And Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, formed a partnership and built over 5,000 schools nationwide, but they built 500 in Texas," said Martin.
19 of those were in Cherokee County — only 3 of them are still standing today, but are preserved here on this mural.
Piecing together over 150 years of their history, across more than 1,000 square miles of Cherokee County, couldn't be done alone.
Martin enlisted the help of some "community heroes" as he calls them, like Maxine Session, publisher of the Texas Informer.
"Well, I brought history of some of the local veterans that we had run in the newspaper. So, it was handy to gather that. History of the Jacksonville Supermoms there's just a few of them left now. But, I brought that and church history. The Bradford school was a big part of my life. And I brought that history," said Maxine Session.
This new mural is putting the spotlight on the African American schools, churches, people, athletes and events in Cherokee County that should be included, not excluded.
"It is just awesome. It makes me feel like I belong. When you're not included, you feel like you don't belong. So this gives us a sense of belonging to the community," Session shared.
"Some of the people on the walls are my Ag teacher, my history teacher, people that I've loved and respected all my life. And the other day, after we got the mural up, I was going home, and I got to thinking about these people and tears just ran down my face. I couldn't help it. I was, I was so proud," said Judge Davis.
The committee and those at the historical commission are now hopeful for even more representation in the future.
"Our projects hope that people will look up to and look at the mural and see that Afro Americans were active throughout history, that they were a viable portion of the community and the county, that they were landowners, that they were tax payers, you know, that they were businessmen and entrepreneurs, that we did make a significant contribution." Martin said.
The mural and the photos are just the beginning they say of sharing and teaching the true impact of African Americans in Cherokee County because there are many more stories to tell.
