Nacogdoches Integration and Segregation, Then and Now

by Michelle Williams (editor), Brandon L. Fox (Editor)

Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School, in Nacogdoches, Texas, houses a carved stone dedication plaque in its gymnasium’s entryway. It reads “This gymnasium is dedicated to the White children of Nacogdoches.” In those days, Nacogdoches was unapologetically segregated. It was a matter of not only custom but also of law. In respect to segregation, Nacogdoches was little different than other communities in the Jim Crow South. Its location in Texas, however, helped to obscure this fact. While the US Supreme Court ended segregation in public schools on May 17, 1954, Nacogdoches schools were not forced to integrate until 1970. This book is comprised of essays that paint a portrait of Nacogdoches both before and after integration. Readers will find a collection of essays written by scholars but also by people who have firsthand experience in conflicts that arose in Nacogdoches after 1970. The essays focus upon both the objective, measurable dimensions of race in Nacogdoches, but also upon the actual lived experiences of African Americans in rural East Texas.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2017

About the author

Michelle was born in Cheltenham in 1973, where she has lived all her life - and continues to do so. She had a solid upbringing and was educated at local state schools.

Michelle started working for the NHS when she was twenty years old, two years as a Health Care Assistant and then eight years as a Senior Health Care Assistant for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour in Community Homes.

At the age of thirty - ten years on - Michelle was lucky enough to land the role of Anatomical Pathology Technician at Cheltenham General Hospital. Now - five years on from that - she holds the title of Mortuary Manager at Cheltenham General Hospital.

Michelle studied and successfully sat the Certificate and Diploma exams from the Royal Institute of Public Health in Anatomical Pathology Technology, this allowing Michelle to use the the letters CAPT and DAPT after her name.

The idea for the book came to Michelle about two years ago as she was working in the Mortuary. She mentioned to a colleague that she could write a book about her time as a Mortuary Technician, her colleague - himself a published author - encouraged Michelle to write a few pages and submit them to him.

He liked what he saw and recommended Michelle to a Publisher, who subsequently commissioned Michelle to finish it. Hence the first book was written - and two years later - on sale.