This second edition of "The 1921 School
Review of Jefferson County, Texas" is a print replica of this document that
was donated to WT as he describes in the introduction.
When I read about this document in WT's article, my curiosity made me seek
it out and when I did, I immediately thought it was worth republishing for
its historic value. Certainly, WT felt the same way since his immediate
inclination was to donate a copy to Tyrrell Historical Library.
The quality of the document is not ideal
(it was published more than one hundred years ago in 1921), but is readable
and worth the effort for the photographs alone. I spent a lot of time
enhancing the images to improve the quality of the scans to the best of my
ability.
William T. Block III
W. T. Block's son.
As I write this column, I am looking at a
copy of "The 1921 School Review of Jefferson County, Texas," perhaps the
oldest and most authoritative, surviving analysis of the early county school
system. This is the second copy I have owned; the first was given to me by
E. S. "Red" Bellair of Port Neches, who had found the copy in a hidden niche
in the old C. O. Baird School. I promptly donated that copy to Tyrrell
Historical Library.
The 104-page booklet contains excellent
photos of the buildings, many school boards and faculties, and the student
bodies of all the schools then under Jefferson County School Superintendent
Mary Sandell. There are also articles about the new A. and M. Rice
Experiment Station at Amelia; the Interscholastic League competitions; and
the county school health department.
There are also excellent photos throughout
of the old Beaumont High School on College Street; the South Park School
buildings on Highland Ave.; of all the Port Arthur schools; and of the
French district schools. A separate volume was published earlier about
Charlton-Pollard High School.
As of 1921 some teachers still lacked
college degrees and taught only with county certificates of qualification.
The new minimum teacher salary was $100 a month, up $45 from 1917-1918.
Minimum salaries for principals and superintendents were $2,400 annually, up
$1,500 from 1917-1918. All schools were then teaching 9 months terms,
although some schools earlier had taught only 6 or 7 months in the year when
funds were exhausted. Most schools by then were teaching through the tenth
grade, although all schools had an 11th grade added by 1925. Six of the
fourteen school districts provided cottages for single women teachers.
Fragment of a newspaper article written
about "The 1921 School Review of Jefferson County, Texas" by W. T. Block.
