The Capitol Boycott

The current Capitol in Austin has stood for more than 130 years and has seen its share of controversies, including one before it was officially opened. The construction of the Capitol sparked a boycott and a national conversation on the use of contract labor. 

The Texas Capitol under construction, c. 1887. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, PICA 18008.

How to Build a Capitol with No Money
In the late 1800s, Texas was out growing its Capitol, but had little ready cash. When the 1876 Constitution was written, an article was included that set aside 3 million acres in the Texas Panhandle to be used to fund the new Capitol. However, it lay unused until a fire destroyed the Capitol in 1881. At that point, the legislature found some investors, calling themselves the Capitol Syndicate, who agreed to take the land in trade for constructing the Capitol. By 1885, the Capitol Syndicate realized that the land was not nearly as profitable as they had hoped and they needed a way to bring down the cost of construction. The legislature agreed to let them use convict labor from Texas prisons.

Black Convict Laborers shaping granite near the Marble Falls quarry, c. 1885. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, PICA 06358 [source]

Black Convict Labor
The 1880s were well into the Jim Crow era in Texas. One of the hallmarks of the Jim Crow era were laws that disproportionately punished African Americans and a justice system that did not really care if African Americans brought before the court were innocent or guilty. This led to a large population of incarcerated African American men, and it was these men that were leased to the Capitol Syndicate for work on the new capitol. Much of the South was using convict labor to replace the enslaved labor that had been used prior to the Civil War, sometimes with African Americans forced to work the same plantations they had formerly been enslaved at. The Capitol syndicate paid $0.65 per day per convict to the state to cover room and board. These men were used as stone cutters for the limestone and granite and constructed the railroad to take the granite to the building site. The local mason’s union was not happy.

A group of the Scottish Stonemasons brought to Texas to break the boycott, c. 1886. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, C00194 [source]

The Boycott
The masons in Texas decided to boycott the Capitol building project. They felt that the use of unskilled convict labor denigrated their profession and depressed their wages. A notice circulated in Austin saying “Granite cutters of America, show this Great-I-Am, Gus Wilkie, and his Chicago syndicate, that free men will not submit to the introduction of slavery into our trade under the guise of contract convict labor, and that you will not teach convicts our trade to enrich these schemers, who care for nothing but the almighty dollar, and now seek to degrade our trade to fill their own pockets.” The masons refused to work on the Capitol unless they stopped using convict labor to quarry the stone. The subcontractor, Gus Wilkie, refused. However, the project still needed skilled masons. Wilkie sent George Berry to Scotland and to recruit stonemasons to bring back to Texas. The local masons caught wind of this and jumped into action. A law had been passed in 1885 forbidding bringing in immigrants to perform contract labor and Wilkie was about to break it. They sent union representatives to meet Berry in New York and he was brought before US District Attorney, who questioned him about the 86 men and could find no proof of wrong doing and release him. Meanwhile, the union representatives talked with the workers and found that each had a contract from Berry, in clear violation of law. Many of these workers refused to continue with the project and helped to provide the proof the US District Attorney needed. However, another boat of 62 men were on their way from Scotland, headed for Galveston. Union representatives were sent to meet the men in New York and Galveston, but the Scottish masons were unloaded in Virginia, then sent the rest of the way to Austin by rail. In July 1886, the US District Attorney filed charges against Gus Wilkie and the members of the Capitol syndicate, but, while the case wound its way through the courts, the work on the capitol continued apace, with the Scottish masons overseeing the African American convict laborers.

Continuing the Fight
It took several years for the lawsuit to finally bear fruit, and it wasn’t necessarily the fruit the masons had wanted. Only Gus Wilkie was charged for the illegal strike breakers, and he was fined $1,000 per worker – for a total of $64,000. Wilkie appealed the decision to President Harrison and, despite the pleas of the union, Harrison reduced the fine to $8,000. The US National Union exacted their own payment, requiring Wilkie to pay them $500 before they would allow union masons to work on any project he was involved in, while the International Union required $500 to remove his name from blacklisting. But during that time, the case sparked a national debate on contract labor. Meanwhile, convict labor is still widely used in Texas, though opponents continue to lobby strongly against its use, or, if it is used, for a fair wage and good working conditions for the workers.

The 1867 Settlement and the Bell Family

https://www.coastmonthly.com/2017/01/keeping-story-alive/

Thomas Britton, working with a horse. Thomas was considered one of the best cowboys on the Butler Ranch. [source]

The 1867 Settlement
After the Civil War ended and Juneteenth brought the official end of slavery in Texas, many newly freed African Americans began founding their own communities. Near Houston, George Washington Butler had enslaved many men and women to work on his cattle ranch. During the war, they drove cattle throughout the Confederacy to feed the Confederate troops. After emancipation, many stayed on the ranch as paid employees, driving cattle on the Chisholm trail and taking part of their pay in cattle. In 1867, several families that had worked on the ranch established their own town in what is today Texas City. The Brittons, Bells, Caldwells, and Hobgoods used their wages from the ranch to purchase land that had been set aside by Judge William Jones for freedman who had local businessmen who could vouch for their character. The community was known variously throughout the years as the 1867 Settlement, Our Settlement, Campbellville (after the resident pastor), Highland City (after a nearby railroad station), Highland Station, and Highlands, though it is now mostly remembered simply as Settlement.

Calvin and Katie Bell. [source]

The Bells
Some of the earliest residents of the Settlement were Calvin and Katie Bell. Katie, whose birth name was Eunistine Johnston, was a German immigrant who had worked at the Butler Ranch, where she met and married Calvin Bell. The couple moved to the Settlement in 1874 where they continued to ranch. Calvin registered his own cattle brand in 1878, a U, an example of which is now in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Katie was the Settlement’s first school teacher, a post that led to an incredible 88% literacy rate in the community. In 1893, a court case was brought against the Bells that their marriage was unlawful, since Calvin was African American and Katie was white. Calvin was acquitted on the grounds that he may not have realized that Katie was white, while Katie was sentenced to 2 years in prison. The couple lived together for a little while after Katie was released from prison, but fear of reprisal led Calvin to move to another house nearby, though there is evidence that he did not entirely abandon Katie. The Bells had 7 children, many of whom stayed in the community and worked to improve it.

The Frank Bell, Sr. and Flavilla Bell Home. [source]

Growth, Decline, and Revival
The Settlement saw a lot of property damage from the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, but continued to grow as African Americans displaced by the hurricane moved further inland. Employment shifted from farming and ranching to the oil industry and factory work growing out of nearby Houston, though rodeos continued to be part of the community’s way of life. Frank Bell, Jr. donated land for a community park in 1948, by which time the community had begun to sprawl into nearby La Marque. In the 1950s and 60s, the community began to shrink. Surrounding towns had grown up to the boundaries of the Settlement and Texas City annexed the community in 1953. The area schools were desegregated in the 1960s and the Settlement’s all-black school was closed, leading many young people to leave the Settlement. Over the years, almost all of the original buildings have been torn down. The only one left is the Bell house, built by Calvin and Katie’s son Frank Bell, Sr. The community has begun to rally around the house and the history it represents. In 2010, the 1867 Settlement was listed on the National Register of Historic Districts and markers have been placed throughout the community. Efforts are still underway, but the hope is to turn the Bell house into a community museum, telling the story of the early black cowboys and their families who carved a place for themselves. 

William “Gooseneck Bill” McDonald

William McDonald from
History and Directory of Fort Worth, 1907 . [source]

Education
William Madison McDonald was born in College Mound, Texas in 1866 to newly freed parents. He worked for and studied law under a white family friend, Z. T. Adams while still in high school. When he graduated in 1884, Adams and some other family friends helped him attend Roger Williams University in Tennessee. He returned to Texas to become principal of the African American High School in Forney.

Politics
McDonald was involved in Republican politics and gained statewide prominence when he was elected to the Republican State Executive Committee in 1892. McDonald quickly became the leader of the “Black and Tan” faction, in which African Americans and supportive whites shared power. During this time, Dallas journalist, William Greene Sterett nicknamed McDonald “Gooseneck Bill,” a name he would carry for the rest of his public life. McDonald ran for chairman of the executive committee in 1898, but was defeated by another African American, Henry Clay Ferguson. Unfortunately infighting between the two men and their followers led to a decline in the power of African Americans in the Texas Republican Party and eventually the “Lily-White” faction took control. However, McDonald and other black Republicans continued to fight for power in the party.

The New Grand and Masonic Temple, which housed several of William McDonald’s business ventures. [source]

Business
Though he remained active in politics, McDonald turned his attention to business, at which he was wildly successful. McDonald was a member of the African American section of the Masons and was elected as Right Worshipful Grand Secretary in 1899, a major leadership position he would hold for the next 47 years. In 1906, he moved to Fort Worth to manage the Fraternal Bank and Trust Company, which had been founded by the Masons. McDonald grew the bank into a cornerstone of the African American community in Fort Worth, providing loans to African American entrepreneurs to encourage the growth of their businesses. Under McDonald’s management, the bank survived the Great Depression. In 2008, The Dallas Morning News reported that McDonald was “probably Texas’ first black millionaire.” McDonald also built the Jim Hotel, known as a venue for blues and jazz artists. Some of the greatest musicians of the era played there, including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, B.B. King, and Billie Holiday.

Legacy
As he grew older, McDonald drifted away from the Republican party, more often voting and campaigning for candidates independently. He continued to contribute to local fraternal organizations. Though the buildings that housed his businesses have been torn down, his name remains part of the landscape of Fort Worth as a YMCA branch. McDonald passed away in 1950, after a full life of community and business, politics and activism.

Texas Votes for Secession

Texas was the seventh state to secede from the Union – the last to do so before the firing on Fort Sumter. Sam Houston, governor at the time and an ardent Unionist, had delayed the convention for secession until January of 1861 and helped force the public referendum. The vote was 46,153 for and 14,747 against, with only 18 out of 122 counties, largely Germans in the Hill Country, voting against Secession. 

This vote ratified the Declaration of Causes written by the convention, which, in part reads:

We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.

That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding States.

This document is historically inaccurate, as African Americans fought in the Texas Revolution, explored Texas with the first Spanish conquistadors, and remained important members of their communities during and after the Republic era.

Texas officially seceded on March 2, 1861, Texas Independence Day. Sam Houston urged Texas to revert to a Republic and remain neutral, but the legislature voted to join the Confederacy. Houston refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was removed from office on March 16.

Iola Bowden Chambers

Iola Bowden Chambers teaching piano. [source]

A Musical Education
Iola Bowden Chambers had a love of music from an early age. After high school, she received a diploma in piano studies and taught at Baylor University. She moved to Southwestern University in Georgetown to teach and also complete a BFA and a BA, then moved to Cincinnati to complete a master’s degree before returning to Georgetown to teach.

The Negro Fine Arts Academy
In 1946, Chambers, though white, worked with students from Southwestern to create the Negro Fine Arts Academy, where she and her students taught local children piano, eventually adding vocals and art to the programs. Each year, the students would put on a recital to showcase their accomplishments. The Academy awarded scholarships to students interested in pursuing higher education, including the first African-American student to attend Southwestern University. The Academy closed in 1966, after the integration of Southwestern University and Georgetown ISD.

The First Methodist Church in Georgetown, where the recitals of the Negro Fine Arts Academy were held and where Chambers played the organ. The historical marker for the Negro Fine Arts Academy is out front. [source]

Continuing Her Work
Through all her work with the Academy, Chambers continued to teach at Southwestern University, as well as serving as the organist for the First Methodist Church, supervising the Junior Music Department at Southwestern, and serving in multiple musical professional organizations. She retired from Southwestern in 1966, but endowed a scholarship in music and continued many of her other occupations. She died on December 14th, 1978.

Austin’s KUT radio station did a short bit on her, which can be found here.

The Ashworth Act and Free African Americans in Texas

Previous Laws
The Republic of Texas vacillated quite a bit on the question of the free African Americans residing within its borders. Mexico had outlawed slavery in 1829 and, though Texas had been granted a brief exception, the outrage of slave-holding Texans was one of the things that sparked the Texas Revolution. The original Republic of Texas Constitution prohibited future immigration by free African Americans and stated that “No free persons of African descent, either in whole or in part, shall be permitted to reside permanently in the Republic, without the consent of Congress.” All African Americans in the Republic of Texas were to be stripped of their citizenship. However, when the first legislature met in 1837, the law was softened. Any African American and their family who had been in Texas prior to the March 2nd, 1836, could remain in Texas.

A Character reference for William Ashworth. The text reads: “Department of Nacogdoches / Jurisdiction of Liberty / I, William Hardin – primary Judge in the jursidiction of Liberty do hereby certify that Wm. Ashworth, a native of South Carolina, is a man of family consisting of six and that he is a man of good moral and industrious habit, a good citizen and friends to the Laws and Religion of the country Given at the instance of the party inter[]. / Liberty November 24th, 1834 / Wm Hardin” [source]

The Law in 1840
In February of 1840, the Texas legislature passed an act reverting to the original Republic Constitution, but with an added measure: all free African Americans in Texas had two years to leave the country, after which time they would be sold into slavery. The community of free African Americans were outraged and reached out to their white allies for help. In particular, the Ashworth brothers, William and Aaron, and their communities, began petitioning the Texas government to be able to stay.

The Ashworth Act
In December of 1840, the Ashworth Act was passed. This act restored the 1837 law, allowing all free African Americans who had been in Texas at the time of independence to remain and included the Ashworths by name. William Ashworth would later receive a land grant from the Republic of Texas.

While free blacks would continue to contribute to Texas history, no other free blacks were allowed to come to Texas or remain in Texas after they were freed. Slavery continued in Texas until the Civil War, and the number of enslaved people grew as cotton became increasingly important to Texas’s economy.

Walter Moses Burton

Walter Moses Burton, c. 1876, 15th Legislature composite [source]

Walter Moses Burton was brought to Texas as a slave in 1850. Unlike many slaves, Burton was educated by his owners, the Burton family. After the Civil War, they sold him a large plot of land, making Burton one of the most influential African-Americans in Fort Bend County. In 1869, Burton was elected sheriff and tax collector of Fort Bend County, which made him one of the earliest – if not the earliest – black sheriff in the country. In 1873, Burton won a seat in the Texas Senate, though the election was contested and wouldn’t be confirmed until February of 1874. He would serve until 1882.

Burton focused on rights for newly freed African-Americans, particularly opportunities for education. He championed the bill calling for the establishment of Prairie View Normal School (today Prairie View A&M). He also sponsored a bill providing land grants to surviving veterans of the Texas Revolution. Upon his retirement from the Senate, he was given an ebony and gold cane. Burton continued to participate in state and local politics until his death in 1913.

Smith v. Allright Ends White Primary in Texas

Lonnie Smith, [source]

In 1940, Lonnie Smith, a Black Dentist from Houston attempted to vote in the Democratic primary for Harris County. The Democratic Party refused to allow him to vote because the rules of the party required its voters to be white. With the support of the NAACP, Smith sued S.E. Allwright, the precinct election judge in 1942. It would take two years and multiple trials before the case made it to the Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall, future Supreme Court Justice, argued that the government had delegated some of its election authority to the Democratic Party, so, despite it being a private organization, it was still bound by the 14th amendment. The Court found in Smith’s favor, 8-1, striking down a 1935 ruling that had allowed white primaries. The number of African Americans registered to vote in Texas skyrocketed, from 30,000 in 1940 to 100,000 in 1947.

Bill Pickett

Bill Pickett, c. 1902. North Fort Worth Historical Society. [source]

The Bulldogger
Bill Pickett was born in Williamson, Co. Texas in 1870, to Thomas Jefferson and Mary Pickett, who had been emancipated just five years earlier at the end of the Civil War. Bill Pickett was the second of thirteen children. He finished 5th grade, but then left school to work as a ranch hand. During his time as a cowboy, he observed that the herding dogs would bite the lips of the cattle to gain control of them. Pickett decided to copy them. He would jump from his horse, grab a steer by the horns and wrestle it to the ground, biting its lip to help him gain control. The technique was nicknamed “bulldogging” and became Pickett’s signature move.

Making a Name
In 1888, Pickett showed off his skills at the Taylor Fair and began performing throughout the Southwest. He started a business with four of his brothers, The Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Association. In 1890, he married Maggie Turner and the two would eventually have nine children together. Because he was African American, Pickett wasn’t allowed to compete against the white cowboys, though he would often claim to be of Native American or Mexican heritage to compete in the bigger rodeos. Pickett soon became well known on the rodeo circuit.

The Bull-Dogger Movie Poster, By Norman Films, Public Domain

The 101 Ranch Wild West Show
In 1905, Pickett joined a traveling wild west show with the 101 Ranch, and moved his family to Oklahoma. During his time with the show, he performed alongside some of the greats, like Buffalo Bill Cody and Will Rogers. Pickett performed under the name “The Dusky Demon” throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe. Pickett appeared in some early motion pictures, such as The Crimson Skull, and The Bull-Dogger, named after his signature move.

Death and Legacy
Pickett eventually retired from the Wild West Show, but continued to work as a ranch hand. In 1932, he was kicked in the head by a horse. After several days in a coma, he died. Will Rogers announced his death on his radio show, saying, “Bill Pickett never had an enemy, even the steers wouldn’t hurt old Bill.” Pickett was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1971, the first African American so honored, then the ProRodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1989. He has been featured on a USPS postage stamp, and the town of Taylor, Texas named one of the streets leading to their rodeo after Pickett.

Bessie Coleman

World’s First Licensed Black and Native American Pilot

Bessie Coleman, 1923. George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images [source]

Early Life 
Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas in 1892. She helped support her family all through high school, but was able to attend only one semester of college due to financial difficulties. She then moved up to Chicago to live her brother and attended beauty school. She would work as a manicurist and operate a chili parlor before deciding to follow her dream to learn how to fly.

Learning to Fly
When she learned that no American flying school would accept African Americans, she went to France and studied at the Ecole d’Aviation des Freres Caudon. She earned her pilot’s license in 1921, the first African-American and person of Native American descent to do so. She quickly realized that to make a living flying, she would have to learn how to do “barnstorming,” or stunt flying. After some additional training, she returned to the US to begin performing.

Bessie Coleman and her plane, 1922. She most often flew a Curtiss JN-4D “Jenny”. Public Domain. [source]

“Brave Bess”
Audiences quickly dubbed Coleman “Brave Bess” and “Queen Bess” for her death defying stunts. Coleman was keenly aware of her position as an ambassador for African-Americans. On at least one occasion, she refused to perform unless African-Americans were allowed to use the same entrance as whites. During her travels, she often gave talks to groups of African Americans to inspire them to take up aviation.

The air is the only place free from prejudices.        
I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the Race needed to be represented along this most important line, so I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviation and to encourage flying among men and women of our Race who are so far behind the White race in this modern study.

Goggle doodle for Bessie Coleman’s 125th birthday. [source]

An Untimely Death
Coleman’s ultimate dream was to open a flying school for African-Americans, but it was not to be. She died in 1926 when she and her mechanic and publicity agent, William Wills were testing an airplane prior to a show and it malfunctioned, crashing to the ground and killing both Coleman and Wills. Despite her brief career, Coleman was an inspiration to a generation of pilots and has been honored with her own stamp and a Google doodle for her birthday.

You can find the episode Stuff You Missed in History Class did on her here.