Our Story
Our Preservation Initiatives
The Edwards Association was formed in the mid‑1980s and serves as the steward of the former all‑Negro school campus that once housed Edwards High School, Edwards Junior High, and Edwards Elementary. These schools, built in the early 1900s, stood as pillars of education for Black students during segregation. Edwards closed its doors in 1966 following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which mandated the integration of public schools.
In the early 1970s, the City of Gonzales purchased the property from the Gonzales Independent School District. Despite its deep historical significance and its location in the heart of the Black community, the site was used by the city as a dumping ground for debris and discarded materials.
Education
Mr. Lawrence Winston Fryer, an Edwards High School alumnus and longtime agriculture teacher with Waelder ISD, was deeply troubled by the deteriorating condition of the old Edwards school grounds. Determined to protect its legacy, he met with Gonzales ISD and the City Council multiple times, and after overcoming many negotiation challenges, he was granted permission to use the Edwards School property. His vision was to create a community center that would serve the entire Gonzales community.
Mr. Fryer, along with fellow Edwards alumni, began the difficult work of restoring the historic campus. Through their dedication and labor, the former Edwards High School was transformed into a functional community center. In 2006, the Edwards Association was officially recognized by the State of Texas as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, solidifying its mission to preserve history and serve the community.
Edwards History
Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, “a ragged beggar sunning,” as John Greenleaf Whittier once wrote—words that, without intention, mirror the condition of our old segregated Black school. Still meant unwanted, overlooked, denied, and left to decay. Yet still also speaks to endurance: a long, painful history that stretches from then until now. The building stood like a hungry, tattered, brokenhearted entity—waiting, asking, and longing for life again.
Written records of early Black education in Texas are scarce, fragmented, and incomplete. But we know that learning for Black children began long before formal schools existed. As early as 1841, the Texas Historical Commission notes that Black women—having secretly learned to read during slavery from white women or white children—began teaching others. Many white women were astonished at how quickly Black children learned, often as fast as their own, and sometimes faster. Their husbands objected, but these determined women continued anyway. With courage and conviction, they nurtured learning among “the unfortunate,” ensuring that knowledge grew for all despite the harsh circumstances of the time.
Education
A Schoolhouse Left Behind
No doubt the first school for Black children in Gonzales, Texas began in 1870 in the home of Mrs. Myrtle Moses Mathis. The home, owned by her parents, stood at 1123 St. Andrew Street. At the urging of her aunt, Mrs. Dora Moore Manor—a Prairie View A&M College graduate—regular classes were organized for local children. Mrs. Manor became the school’s first teacher and later its first principal, guiding the earliest efforts to educate Black students in the community.
The First Black School in Gonzales: The Moses Home Classroom
As word spread about this rare opportunity, more and more children crowded into the Moses home to learn. Parents, neighbors, and friends stepped in to teach, offering their time and knowledge purely out of love and commitment, as these early instructors worked for many years without pay. Soon, small schools began appearing throughout rural areas. Churches, homes, halls, and even shops became makeshift classrooms, each one housing small groups of eager learners being instructed in whatever way the community could provide.
Growth, Recognition, and Early Black Educators
By the late 1890s, the small community schools serving Black children in Gonzales were finally recorded and formally recognized by the State. With this recognition, teachers—who had long served without pay—began receiving salaries. Records from the Gonzales District Office show that in 1892, a total of 109 students were enrolled across these schools. Those same documents also reveal the painful truth that Black teachers were paid significantly less than their white counterparts. Among the earliest recorded teachers in 1892 were Mrs. Josie Desmuke, Mr. A. D. Desmuke, and Mr. Napoleon.
For reasons lost to time, the school building was eventually destroyed by fire. Yet even this tragedy did not stop the determination of the community. Refusing to be defeated, the dedicated educators and leaders moved their classes across the street to the Knights of Peter Claver Hall, ensuring that learning continued despite every obstacle placed before them.