Austin, Travis County
Opened in 1891 to provide free public education to African-American children in the community then known as Gregory Town, Blackshear Elementary School was known in earlier years as School no. 3, Gregory Town School and Gregory School. In 1936, it was named for Edward L. Blackshear (1862-1919), a 19th-century teacher and principal who left Austin in 1895 to become head of Prairie View College. Programs and facilities for Blackshear students, including the establishment of a school library in 1934, expanded as the number of students increased. Now serving an ethnically diverse population in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade classes, Blackshear is an important part of Austin's educational history. (2001)