Group organizing school records
The archive committee of the Wood County Historical Association has started a project of organizing school records of Wood County common schools that served rural children during the late 19th Century until 1965.
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Group organizing school records
The archive committee of the Wood County Historical Association has started a project of organizing school records of Wood County common schools that served rural children during the late 19th Century until 1965.
A common school was part of a centralized system under the control and direction of an elected county school superintendent and county school board in all Texas counties. This system originated from the school law of 1884. In 1905 the first Wood County School superintendent was J.U. Searcy, the great-grandfather of Shannon White.
Wood County had about 70 schools, but as the years passed, the number began to decline. In 1935 there were 54 schools, and by 1960, there were only four schools left in Wood County. In 1964 Lone Grove and Cartwright consolidated with Quitman and New Hope with Mineola. The next year, the one remaining school, Lloyd (Coke), came to Quitman.
The office of county school superintendent remained for two more years after all the schools had consolidated until 1966. At that time a beloved retired elementary teacher, Mrs. Ola Hyde, was elected as county school superintendent with the promise that she would abolish the office since it was no longer needed. True to her word, the office was closed by legislation in the summer of 1967.
The records in that office were placed in the county judge’s office and stayed there many years.
Several years ago, these records were given to the Wood County commissioners to oversee. They were in huge plastic tubs that covered the entire floor of one of the rooms in the WCHC building. They were not organized in a useable manner. So the task is to bring order to these records.
Ulna McWhorter of Quitman, Sue Hamm of Winnsboro and Joyce Williams and Jim Phillips of Mineola are members of the archive committee. WCHC meets the third Thursday of odd-numbered months at the Elections Building southwest of the county courthouse in Quitman. All those interested in preserving the history of Wood County are invited to attend the open meetings. Next meeting is July 15 at 10 a.m.
