Proc. 2018-32 - Samuel Walker Houston High School Reunion Week, 7-18
PROCLAMATION
NO. 2018-32
WHEREAS born a free man, Samuel Walker Houston (son of Sam Houston’s slave Joshua Houston, Sr.), founded the historic Samuel Walker Houston High School in 1906, financed and built by
the African-American citizens of the community, including students and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald; and
WHEREAS following integration in 1968, the school was closed and mementoes were saved by individuals who wanted to preserve the legacy of the founder and first principal, and who shared
the situation at the school’s reunion in 1974; and
WHEREAS in 1978, a national alumni association was formed, that went on to open the Samuel Walker Houston Museum and Cultural Center and later reclaim the 23.31 acres of land where the
original school had stood; and
WHEREAS this year alumni from across the country have reconvened to celebrate the “African-Americans in Times of War” theme and the work of all those who have kept alive Samuel Walker
Houston’s dreams of providing outstanding educational opportunities for African-Americans throughout East Texas.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY PROCLAIMED, by the power vested in me as Mayor of the City of Huntsville, Texas that:
JULY 22-29, 2018
be declared: Samuel Walker Houston
High School Reunion Week
in the City of Huntsville and urge all citizens to join in special recognition of the 17th Biennial Reunion of this important event in our community.
PROCLAIMED AND SIGNED on this the 26th day of July 2018.
____________________
Andy Brauninger, Mayor