Samuel Walker Houston

Samuel Walker Houston (February 12, 1864 – November 19, 1945) was an American teacher, academic administrator, newspaper proprietor, newspaper editor, and black school founder. He was born enslaved, and later became a pioneer in the field of education in Texas.

Early life and education

Samuel Walker Houston was born enslaved on February 12, 1864, in Huntsville, Texas. His parents were Sylvester Lee (sometimes written as Sylvester Baker) and Joshua Houston; his father was African American and formerly enslaved by Sam Houston (1793–1863) and his wife Margaret Lea Houston (1819–1867). His father founded in 1883 the Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute in Huntsville.

After studying with his father and professor Charles W. Luckie, Houston realized that education was the building block to success. Houston attended Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia; Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta, Georgia; and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Houston served in 1928 on the advisory committee for the National Republican Organization and attended the 1928 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Together they had one son, Harold Houston; later Cornelia Orvis and a baby daughter died in childbirth. and the high school's Ex-Students Association, commissioned artists Larry Zink and Monica Taylor to create The Dreamers. This is a monument which celebrates the contribution made by the black community to the growth and development of Huntsville and Walker County, which was placed in front of the old facility, now renamed as the Samuel W. Houston Museum and Cultural Center.