SOUR LAKE, Texas — Some Sour Lake residents are voicing their concerns after learning that an area school is getting a name change.
Henderson Middle School will be renamed Hardin-Jefferson Junior High.
The school was named after their first Black principal, J.H. Henderson.
Henderson was a pioneer in the Black community. He dedicated his life to teaching generations of students good character and how to integrate with ease.
Beverly Carrier-Walters is a proud 1970 graduate of Henderson Middle School, where her parents also attended.
This family pattern followed as Carrier-Walters' sent her children and even grand-children to Henderson Middle School, too.
"We're not asking for much all we want is the name changed back. We want to see come fall time, that my grandchildren, along with her grandchildren go back to Henderson Middle School," Carrier-Walters said.
Claudia Tyler's mother graduated in 1951. She sent her children there and now, her grandchildren are students.
She found out the devastating news of the name change from her grandchildren.
Tyler doesn't want the significance of Henderson's name to disappear.
"So, you don't want this man's name? He's a legacy to us in our community for what he did for our parents, then for what our parents did for us," Tyler said.
Henderson was the first black principal of China High School.
During integration, the school split and became a middle school named in his honor.
These families say he was a true trailblazer.
Director of Communications for Hardin-Jefferson independent School District Mandy Fortenberry tells 12News the school board approved the name change in March.
Read the full statement below:
"The decision to align the name of our new middle school building with the other campuses in our district was on the School Board agenda in February and March. The matter was tabled in February because all members were not present. In March, the board voted to approve the name of the new district middle school building Hardin-Jefferson Junior High. The board is currently looking into alternate ways to honor Mr. Henderson, as well as other past employees."
Rebecca Hill is a volunteer historian for the Bertha Terry Cornwell Museum in Sour Lake.
"He did so much for education and you know bringing the Black community together with the White community. He was the big instrumental person with that," Hill said.
Hill personally knew J.H. Henderson and just like Carrier-Walters and Tyler, she was surprised the name of the school was changing.
"It was a shock to me it really was," Hill said.
"This is over 60 years of Henderson and how dare you just take our legacy away from us," Carrier-Walters said.
Henderson's own words from a Beaumont Enterprise article in 1973 summarize his own significance.
"I was the only Black high school principal to survive integration in China," he said in the article.
