Destination for Dreams: The St. Paul School
PART I – Neylandville History
TIMESTA
MP
CAPTION
NARRATION
James Baldwin
1969
AUDIO
VIDEO
IMAGE
MAP
TIMELINE
CONTEXT
CITATION
PERMISSIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
2:04-2:12
Baldwin’s Nigger: “.
. .whereever I was
in Africa . . . ., bill of
sale. . . could go no
further
BILL OF SALE:
The Neylandville Story
Neylandville, Texas
Original footage,
driving down hwy
toward
Neylandville—about
10 seconds?
http://texa
shistory.u
nt.edu/ark:
/67531/me
tapth3296
8/m1/1/siz
es/?q=tex
as%20ma
p
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
aaohtml/e
xhibit/aop
art1b.html
Originally an all-black
community, Neylandville
was established right
before the Civil War.
Gwen Lawe,
pointing
Merge into civil war
images
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
aap/photo
14.jpg
When James Brigham
purchased his freedom
from his owner in an
adjacent Texas county
and,
Overlay image on
footage from current
Neylandville
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
aap/aapch
ur.html
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/ampage?collId=
mssmisc&fileName
=ody/ody0104/ody0
104page.db&recNu
m=0&itemLink=/am
mem/aaohtml/exhibi
t/aopart1b.html@01
04&linkText=9
After saving enough to
free his wife and one of
their children, moved his
family to the area.
Overlay image on
footage from current
Neylandville
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
aap/aappo
lit.html
Gwen Lawe attended
high school in
Neylandville.
Gwen Lawe to the
students about how
her parents didn’t
allow her to
experience
segregation, and
how the family
would travel
Gwendolyn M. Lawe,
Dallas, Texas
11:10-11:17
Gwen Lawe: “Until
desegregation,
African American
communities were
self sufficient.
They had to be."
Malcolm X
1962?
Malcolm X Our
History was
Destroyed by
Slavery
9:13:
In Neylandville, long
before the Emancipation
Proclamation freed the
rest of his family and
neighbors, Brigham
“managed to buy
[several hundred] acres
of unimproved farmland”
After the Civil War, other
former slaves also
acquired land in the
“It is better for us to
go to our own
schools…to end
Overlay image on
footage from current
Neylandville
Overlay image on
footage from current
Neylandville
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
aap/photo
05.jpg
Focus on image in
middle, panning left
to right
http://mem
ory.loc.go
v/ammem/
Maybe start at
Lincoln, then zoom
out
community.
aaohtml/e
xhibit/aop
art5.html
Maybe start at Lincoln, then zoom out
Jim Conrad (oral
history): 1:11:
Eventually there
was a community.
1:34: an all black,
rural community.
http://www
.waymarki
ng.com/ca
t/details.a
spx?f=1&
guid=bad0
88bd63b34053a75994a7611d
d624&exp
=True
“Crisis in Levittown,”
Documentary (1957)
14:16-14:24 (Crisis
in Levittown)
“For some the
answer is
tremendously
complicated, tied up
with a maze of past
associations and
present influences.”
Opal Pannell was
born and raised in
Neylandville, Texas
Opal Pannell,
Commerce, Texas
Childhood pics of
Pannell? (OTHER
CHILDREN FOR
PLACEHOLDER?)
Opal Pannell, OH,
12: 13:
“My parents moved
to Neylandville from
Begin fading this in
at above, when
Pannell says
“Neylandville from
Greenville,” starting
at top of book
“Blackest land,
whitest people and
scrolling down to
the “Greenville
Texas” when she
says “Greenville,”
Then keep moving
down the book until
we get to “The
untold story of my
hometown,” then
fade into next.
Greenville.
Opal Pannell (audio
only)
Then keep moving
down the book until
we get to “The
untold story of my
hometown,” then
fade into next.
12:26-“They were
always looking for
something better and at
the time Neylandville
was real popular.
14:30-14:34 (Crisis
in Levittown)
“The past slips
through, despite
what is said.”
Once a thriving, largely
autonomous community,
very little remains of
Neylandville today.
“Neylandville and St. Paul School_0027.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
“Neylandville and St. Paul School_0032.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
Note: select just a
few from these and
see if you can’t
pace it so it feels
neither too fast nor
too slow
“Neylandville and St. Paul School_0033.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
“Neylandville and St. Paul School_0078.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
8:15-8-27 (Crisis in
Levittown) kill audio,
leave video until she
says
“The whole thing
centers around the
word ‘integration’.”
5:33 (Unforgivable
Blackness: The
Rise and Fall of
Jack Johnson, Pt. 1)
James Earl Jones
“Forget about race.
That was the color
of the system. But
that didn’t define the
system. It was
about power.”
Fade to black
PART 2 – School history
TIMESTA
MP
CAPTION
NARRATION
AUDIO
VIDEO
IMAGE
In a separate but
unequal time the
Neylandville community
managed to build and
operate a school that
served the rural areas of
Hunt County and
beyond.
“St. Paul High School.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
Hunt county had white
rural schools about 2 to
3 miles apart.
“St. Paul School 1920.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
St. Paul on the other
hand was the only rural
black school in the
county.
“St. Paul School 1923.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
MAP
TIMELINE
CONTEXT
CITATION
PERMISSIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
“St. Paul School 1925.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
3 bus routes served the
school, one of which
encompassed 102 miles
round trip.
“St. Paul School bus 1938, driver B. T.
Thrash.” Digital Collections, James G. Gee
Library, Texas A&M University-Commerce.
JPEG file. Fair Use.
“St. Paul School bus.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
“St. Paul School buses 1948.” Digital
Collections, James G. Gee Library, Texas
A&M University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair
Use.
Receiving less money
and classroom materials
than the local white
“St. Paul School 1926.” Digital Collections,
James G. Gee Library, Texas A&M
University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair Use.
United States v.
State of Texas
(1966) footnotes
schools St. Paul
overcame tremendous
odds.
and data
“St. Paul School 1926-1.” Digital
Collections, James G. Gee Library, Texas
A&M University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair
Use.
The school was
supported by a minority
community
The school was one of
the central structures of
a small tightly knit
community that relied
upon itself for everything
necessary for a village to
operate. With their own
grocery market,
churches, post office,
etc. (list), the community
even policed itself. There
was no need for a sheriff
here, the community
relied upon a silent code
within itself that
ostracized members who
did not keep within the
moral boundaries of the
understood behaviors.
“St. Paul School Debate Team.” Digital
Collections, James G. Gee Library, Texas
A&M University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair
Use.
(tweak narration below
for clarity)
“St. Paul School Father – Son Banquet.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
Bolstered by funds from
the Rosenwald
“St. Paul School NFA and NHA groups.”
Digital Collections, James G. Gee Library,
Texas A&M University-Commerce. JPEG
file. Fair Use.
Instead focus on
some other theme
emphasized
throughout this
video though not
yet concretely
enough.
Foundation and guided
by educational principles
developed by Booker T
Washington the St. Paul
school became the
destination for the
dreams for what are
seen for generations of
black students living in
Hunt county during the
mid-20th century.
In its heyday, the
school’s basketball
teams competed with
many of Northeast
Texas’ all-black schools.
The main building of the
campus was full of
trophies won by the
debate team, basketball
team (other).
The school thrived with a
powerful spirit that
permeated the halls of
the school and gave its
students an education
that empowered them to
become strong members
of the community for
decades to come.
One of its graduates
included Mrs. Opal
Pannell who vividly
remembers what life was
like in Neylandville when
she attended the St.
Paul school as a young
girl.
Although the St Paul
school was a powerful
“St. Paul School unknown date - 1.” Digital
Collections, James G. Gee Library, Texas
A&M University-Commerce. JPEG file. Fair
Use
Use as placeholder
for now. I will need
to find an image to
further suggest the
national convo on
“community near
last century
(
Here show images of Opal, maybe even
video. We need to see if we can get our
hands on one of the original yearbooks or
photos. The copy in the library is not
usable. If not, I will find pictures in the
national archives that corresponde. Images
of black debate teams, etc. from the 1930’s
and 40’s
stronghold of the
Neylandville community,
there were still issues
that affected the school.
In the winter, the main
building on campus was
not heated.
Here use Gwen’s story
about sitting in the office
where it was warm, or in
the home ec room
because the ovens kept
it warm.
Narrator: Transportation
to and from school was
one of the key problems.
The school busses were
not always in good
working condition.
Here, Gwen’s story
about being stuck on the
bus for hours after
school
The school lacked new
textbooks and had to
rely on old hand-medowns from the
neighboring white
community schools.
Typewriters that were
used for the school’s
business classes
eventually became
community property.
Insert Gwen’s story
about the typewriter’s
being “borrowed”.
The St Paul school was
a stronghold for the
Neylandville community
but it lacked the basic
necessities such as
textbooks, heating and
air conditioning and
proper bus
transportation that was a
given within the white
schools during this
period.
PART 3 – Neylandville history
TIMESTAMP
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NARRATION
AUDIO
VIDEO
IMAGE
MAP
TIMELINE
CONTEXT
CITATION
PERMISSIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
CAPTION
NARRATION
This is the last part
where we will tie
everything together by
stating how
desegregation broke up
the community.
AUDIO
VIDEO
IMAGE
MAP
TIMELINE
CONTEXT
CITATION
PERMISSIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
PART 4
TIMESTAMP
Gwen Lawe’s tour
of the campus and
her Oral History
interview.
At the end of the
narrative, footage of
Gwen Law
describing how
when the school
closed, none of
them knew where
they were going to
go, or even if they
were going to finish
high school. She
describes it as a
scary time.