District unveils plaque dedicated to burned Jacksonville high school

Frederick Douglass High School was destroyed in 1979
Updated: Feb. 21, 2020 at 3:10 PM CST
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JACKSONVILLE, Texas (KLTV) - School district officials in Jacksonville have unveiled a plaque in honor of a former school dedicated to one of the most famous abolitionists and 19th-century speakers, Frederick Douglass.

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The Texas Historical Commission recently awarded a historical marker to the site of Fred Douglass High School, named in honor of Douglass, in recognition of Black History Month. The school was built in 1924. The school served as a primarily African American campus until Jacksonville schools were integrated in 1970.

The school burned in 1979. A district official said the Fred Douglass Alumni Association kept the memory of the school alive while preserving as much history of the school as possible after the fire.

Fred Douglass Elementary School, the namesake of the former high school, held a special assembly Friday morning to unveil a plaque donated by the Parent Teacher Organization. Several former students and members of the historical society were in attendance.

Frederick Douglass High School’s class of 1969 also donated books to the elementary school’s library.

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