MARFA — A dark, overcast sky, cool temperatures and no beating sun rays Saturday afternoon was a blessing for the 100 or so attendees at the National Park Service’s ribbon cutting for its newest national park — the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa.
Many Presidio County residents of the Big Bend know pieces of the school’s history: A segregated campus for Mexican American students in Marfa from 1909-1965 that finally integrated its students with Anglos 11 years after Brown v. Board of Education declared segregation unconstitutional; the requirement that students not speak Spanish, with punishment (sometimes corporal) for those who did, and forcing students to bury Spanish words on paper in a cigar-box coffin; how the Blackwell School Alliance nonprofit persisted for years in preserving and elevating the site’s history. Still, that history could have been lost to many Americans, hidden in this small Far West Texas town.
“If not for this community’s devotion to protecting Blackwell’s story, its history could have been lost to time altogether,” said U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland at the ceremony, which she noted also lands on the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. “Thankfully, Blackwell’s designation and today’s ribbon cutting set its legacy and its lessons firmly into stone. … As we kick off Hispanic Heritage Month together, I must tell you that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here in Marfa with the Blackwell School alumni who made today possible.”
The celebration was spirited, with a mariachi band, Marfa ISD ballet folklorico dancers, food and drink and recognition given to many of the school’s alumni present. Elected officials mingled with local residents, school alumni and scores of park rangers from throughout the region who were easy to pinpoint with their green and brown uniforms and broad-brimmed, domed hats.
Alumnus Joe Cabezuela told the crowd how his simple idea for a school reunion in 2006 led to the formation of the Blackwell School Alliance and ultimately to the country’s latest national park. Cabezuela said alumni at the time realized that Marfa ISD planned to sell or tear down the school, which had fallen into “shambles” and needed significant renovation. “Right away, we all said, there’s no way that you’re going to do this,” he said. “That’s our building. That’s Hispanic history in Marfa. You can’t do that.”
Cabezuela and other alumni made a presentation to the school board to save the building, and he recounted the reaction: “And, the superintendent just stood up and said, ‘Joe, I’ve got good news for you. See if you like it and then you can do whatever you want.’ He said, ‘We’ll give you a one-year lease for a dollar a year, but you have to show something in 25 years. If you do not show anything we’re just going to repossess it and do what we have to do with it.’”
Years of work and countless fundraisers by the alliance led to then U.S. Rep. Will Hurd and current Rep. Tony Gonzales, along with U.S. Senator John Cornyn, in getting legislation passed to make the school a National Historic Site. President Joe Biden signed the authorization into law in October 2022. In July — after lengthy negotiations with Marfa ISD on the sale of the school — the National Park Service made it an official national park. Additional renovations will be ongoing at the site, but visitors can tour the school room and band hall to view a variety of photos and accounts that show that even though segregated, the students and staff retained a close-knit community that excelled in academics, sports and other activities.
While many talked of the countless fundraisers and preservation efforts by the alliance, Saturday’s event focused even more on what the park status means to Marfa, the school’s alumni, and our nation as a whole. Here are a few highlights from speakers at the event.
“Too many either don’t know or don’t remember from their history books, perhaps because it’s not in a lot of history books, what a de facto segregation looked like and felt like for the communities nationwide. They don’t realize that entire communities were targeted simply for not being white or for speaking a different language. They might not understand that this era of segregation wasn’t all that long ago, or that it happened as recently as their own family members’ lifetimes. They may not appreciate that racial discrimination didn’t disappear when the laws that upheld it were overturned.”
— Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
“I have a passion for a donor — an old man that used to do a lot of yard work here in Marfa. You could tell that he was poor and he didn’t have any money. But when we had one of our hamburger fundraisers, he showed up and he and his wife ordered two hamburgers. … He pulls out a twenty and says, ‘It’s for Blackwell.’ I said, ‘Oh my god.’ That really energized me to think that if this old man that has no money comes out of his pocket with a twenty-dollar bill, we are doing something right.”
— Joe Cabezuela, Blackwell School alumnus and first president of the Blackwell School Alliance
“I am so proud and we are so proud of this community, of this work … that this was almost lost and the community was able to pull together, that the coalition was able to come together and make sure that this history gets told. … That it’s left Marfa, it’s left Texas, it went to D. C. and now what we’re standing in front of is going to be a site of pilgrimage. People from all over the world will come to this site to learn about this history.”
— David Lamfrem, vice president of Regional Programs for the National Parks Conservation Association
“I think about my grandparents, Memo and Aurora, my dad’s parents, and my mom’s mama, Susana, who all attended the Blackwell School — and what it would mean to them to be standing on these grounds today, to see this special place and to know that their history is now part of the eternal story of America. This land is filled with such opportunity and the Blackwell School Alliance and everybody that came on afterwards took that opportunity. They ran with it. They lit a torch and they did not let it extinguish until they reached this ultimate goal.”
— Daniel Hernandez, Blackwell School Alliance president
“Our goal is for the Blackwell School to remain a symbol of progress in the nation’s journey towards a more inclusive historic narrative. Sites like Blackwell School allow Mexican Americans to see themselves in U. S. history, highlighting their achievements and their resilience. The park will also provide future generations with a more inclusive and comprehensive history of America.”
— Charles “Chuck” Sams, National Park Service director
“I’m sorry, I’m kind of touched, but Blackwell has a big part in my heart. Now I wasn’t lucky, since I only spent three years here, and most of all of my friends were here for eight years. But I was still part of this. And now with this national park designation, I realize I’m part of history.
— Tony Cano, Blackwell School alumnus