Blackshear Elementary Parent-Teacher Association Scrapbooks

An Inventory of the Collection

Administrative History

Blackshear Elementary School is located at 1712 East 11th St., Austin, Texas. Blackshear School opened in 1894. It was first named Gregorytown School after a local resident. In 1903, an eight-room brick building was constructed. Additions were made in 1916 and 1936, when the name was changed to E. L. Blackshear in honor of Edward Leversia Blackshear, an African American educator. The school has gone through subsequent renovations and serves as an elementary school in the Austin Independent School District. The school's Parent-Teacher Organization (also referred to as the Blackshear Parent Advisory Council and the Parent-Teacher Association) was chartered in 1969 and works to promote the importance of childhood education and well-being in the community.

Scope and Contents

The majority of the Blackshear Elementary Parent-Teacher Association Scrapbook collection consists of scrapbooks from the early 1970s and the 1980s. The collection was donated anonymously so while it assumed that the scrapbooks were compiled by the Blackshear PTA, it is not known for sure. Two of the scrapbooks (1970-1971 and 1980-1984) are housed in the scrapbook binders distributed to Parent-Teacher Associations by the Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers. The 1970-1971 scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, awards and recognitions, correspondence, distributed information and the 1969 charter. The 1980-1984 scrapbook includes similar materials with the addition of photographs of each class (kindergarten, 4th through 6th) and photographs of student events. Of interest is that this scrapbook covers the early years of desegregation in Austin public schools when Blackshear was paired with Sunset Valley Elementary and only held kindergarten (Blackshear students only) and fourth grade through sixth grade classes (Blackshear and Sunset Valley students). Blackshear students in the earlier grades were bussed to Sunset Valley. A third scrapbook (1979-1980) is labeled Blackshear Parent Advisory Council and contains photographs of students and teachers as well as newspaper clippings. The remaining three scrapbooks (two of which have been disassembled because of preservation concerns) span the years 1988-1990 and have no overt references to the PTA but do document school life in the late 1980s with photographs of students and faculty (both identified individual head shots and school event/class photos), news clippings, event flyers and correspondence.

The small amount of remaining materials (.1 linear foot) in the collection span the years 1975-1994 and consist of historical information about Blackshear; printed materials such as the 1994 graduation program, 1992-93 staff list, a school handbook and other administrative materials; and photographs circa 1980s.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use

None.

Related Material

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Blackshear Elementary Parent-Teacher Association Scrapbooks (AR.1994.096). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.

Acquisition Information

Donor unknown

Donation Date: 1994

Processing Information

Finding aid created and encoded by Molly Hults in 2012.

Detailed Description of the Collection