Mary Allen College, Crockett, Texas. (original) (raw)

Historical Marker:

Mary Allen Seminary

In 1886 the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, under the leadership of the group's secretary the Rev. Richard Allen, began planning for the establishment of a black girls' school in Texas. After a statewide survey, they chose Crockett as the school site because of the area's large black population and because of a local black parochial school operated by the Rev. Samuel Fisher Tenny, pastor of the city's First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Allen's wife Mary, for whom the school was named, was instrumental in raising the organizational funds for the new seminary.

Dr. Byrd R. Smith became the school's first black president in 1924 and initiated a period of growth which included the adoption of new programs and the admission of male students. Transferred to the Missionary General Baptist Convention of Texas in 1944, Mary Allen College became a 4-year liberal arts institution. In 1972, plagued by a series of legal and financial setbacks, the school closed.

Once the site of a 12-building campus and the home of a noted academic program of quality education and religion, this site serves as a reminder of the proud heritage of Texas' black population.

Site of Mary Allen Seminary Historical Marker
Photo courtesy George Lester, October, 2005

Photographer's Note: "I have been intrigued by this old building everytime I drove past it in Crockett. Today I decided to explore a bit and took several pictures." - George Lester, October 17, 2005

Readers' Forum

Subject: Addition to Mary Allen College of Crockett

The Last President of Mary Allen College, in Crockett Texas was the Reverend E. S. Davis. For a number of years after Mary Allen closed, Pastor Davis resided in Palestine,Texas. He retired from the Palestine Independent Sschool District until his passing about 8 years ago.

At the time that Mary Allen closed it was considered a Junior College with one of its last students becoming the first Black Warden in the history of the Texas Department of Corrections, Dr.Hubert Scott. - Rodney Paul Smith, November 25, 2005

Mary Allen College Today
Photo courtesy Kimberly Mason, May 2012

Window close-up
Photo courtesy Kimberly Mason, May 2012

A front view showing the old fountain on the plaza
Photo courtesy George Lester, October, 2005

An interior view showing the collapsed floors through the roof.
Photo courtesy George Lester, October, 2005