The Rosenwald Centennial Project
About Huntsville's Samuel Walker Houston Museum...
The Samuel Walker Houston Museum & Cultural Center
Free Admission: Tue - Fri, 9:30am. - 4:30pm ...1604 Tenth Street, Huntsville, TX 77340.
...Map • EMAIL • (936) 295-2119
"Sam Walker Houston Museum & Cultural Center"
by Lee Suggs
for East Texas History, https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/345
“The Samuel Walker Houston School”
by Jeffrey L. Littlejohn
for East Texas History, https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/2
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Who was Samuel Walker Houston?
Samuel Walker Houston (02/12/1864-11/19/1945), was a pioneer of African-American education in Texas. Samuel was born to Sylvester Baker Houston (?-11/21/1898) and the Honorable Joshua Houston, Sr. (1822-1902) two former slaves of General Sam Houston. : There were five children born to his parents; Joseph (1836-1938), Joshua, Jr. (1876-1928), Samuel (1864-1945), Lucy Houston Gardner (1841-1916) and Minnie Houston Dillard (1881-1946). General Sam Housotn, famously taught his slaves to read. After they were freed, that basic education allowed Samuel's father the ability to become a civic leader and eventually Texas' first Black County Commissioner.
After studying with his father and Professor CW Luckett, Samuel W. Houston realized that education was the building block to success. A member of the intellectual elite, he was a classically trained musician and was greatly influenced by Booker T. Washington. Young Samuel matriculated to study in Virginia, then to Atlanta University in Georgia, where he was a student of W.E.B. DuBois before moving on to Howard University in Washington D.C.
While in DC, Houston honed administrative skills, working for 5 years as a clerk for the Navy.
1903: Instructor Houston returned home to Texas to teach at the Red Hill Community School in Grimes County, TX. He also founded and published a local newspaper: The Huntsville Times.
Alumnus: ELOISE WILSON JOHNSON
Generations of the descendants of John Wesley Wilson and Amarintha Kittrell Wilson attended the schools set up by Samuel W. Walker Houston. The amazing beautiful Eloise (Lovie) Wilson Johnson (pictured here) acquired her sewing, music and fashion design skills at the Samuel W. Houston Industrial and Training Institute.
After graduation from Prairie View A&M with a degree in Home Economics, Eloise moved to Chicago in 1930, where, she established “Eloise Boutique” an upscale ladies dress and accessories store. Her sister Ann Wilson Welcome joined her in Chicago and helped grow the business. Eloise eventually became the celebrity hat and accessories designer for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary McCleod Bethune and others. She was featured on CNN, served on the Opera board, did extensive international travel and managed decades of Fashion Shows for NAACP National Conventions.
READ AN ARTICLE ON "MS. ELOISE" IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.
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