Answers To Go with Susan Smith

Q. Last week, you wrote about schools for Spanish-speaking students after 1908. Was Southside the first school for these San Marcos families?

A. Not quite. To find out more about schools serving this group before 1908, I turned to “Sueños y Recuerdos del Pasado: Dreams and Memories of the Past: A Community History of Mexican Americans in San Marcos, Texas.” This book was compiled by the Hispanic Historical Committee of the Hays County Historical Commission.

The chapter on education begins: “Because so many Hispanics in the San Marcos area worked on farms and ranches, there was little in the way of formal schooling during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“Children were often needed to help their parents in the fields, picking cotton and harvesting other crops. Often it was the parents themselves who taught the children how to read and write.

“Those who lived in town also found it difficult to obtain an education, as Mexican American children were not allowed to attend the city’s schools. The children had to go out to the country schools to receive an education.

“By 1899, the San Marcos school board began discussing the idea of establishing a school for Mexican American children. ‘The ‘Mexican School,’ as it was called, opened in April, 1901 in a house formerly occupied by the ‘Colored School.’

“Fewer than 20 children were enrolled. In March 1902, the school was moved to El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church. Mrs. P.G. Verduzco was appointed teacher, and her salary was $30 per month.

“From the beginning, the Mexican School received fewer resources than what was called the ‘White School,’ including a lack of running water. In October 1912 a group of Hispanic citizens requested that city water be provided at the school. Three years later, in 1915 the school board’s Repair Committee was still studying the problem.

“A new school was completed for Hispanic children in 1925. But the building lacked something that Mexican American parents had been asking for since 1912 — running water. The architects responsible for the project informed the school board that ‘we have kept the construction as simple as possible with no plumbing installation.’

“Though the Mexican American parents were not satisfied, the Anglo community seemed to be. The San Marcos Record reported in August 1925 that ‘The new building has four large classrooms and is comfortable and adequate for present needs.’

“Southside School, located at the present-day site of Bonham Elementary in the Riverside neighborhoods, was built in the 1930s. Although Mexican Americans were officially considered ‘white’ by school authorities, in reality Southside became the ‘Latin American school,’ receiving fewer resources than the Anglo school.

“The elementary school students were ‘low’ and ‘high’ classes within each grade level, which meant that students had often spent as much as 9 years at Southside by the time they finished the sixth grade.

“Those Mexican American students who could make their way through the ‘Latin American’ elementary school were permitted to attend the predominantly Anglo junior high and high school. In contrast, African Americans in San Marcos had totally separate educational facilities.

“Yet few Mexican American students were able to make it to junior high school, due to the inherent limitations imposed on them.

“The Hispanics were made to feel inferior in many ways. They were not expected to succeed academically. Their language was banned from the school grounds. The school buses would not pick up Mexican American children. Due to their family’s economic situation, Mexican American students were often called away from school to help with the family’s work on farms.

“When the students did return to school after assisting with the harvest, they often found themselves behind. The cycle of frustration that came from low expectations, a sense of inferiority and hard labor outside of school took its toll on students. They understood that even if they did eventually receive a high school or even a college degree, there was little chance that they would be able to find a well-paying position in the Anglo-dominated business and professional community. The effects of this system were such that most Mexican American students dropped out by the seventh grade and began working to help support their families.

“Even though the odds were against Hispanic students ‘making it’ through the system, there were those who encouraged them to success. In 1942, Hermelinda Murillo, a sixth-grade teacher at Southside, promoted six students to the seventh-grade campus in the middle of the school year.

“Administrators objected to the promotions, and Mrs. Murillo responded that they could send back any students who couldn’t make it. All of the students were promoted to the eighth grade at the end of the year. But school officials decided not to renew Mrs. Murillo’s teaching contract. Each of those students went on to graduate from San Marcos High School.”