The Interior Department on Wednesday formally established the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas as the nation’s newest national park unit.
The move marks the final step in establishing the new historic site at the onetime segregated school after Congress approved a bipartisan bill in 2022 creating the site. As a historic site, the school grounds will be dedicated to exploring the history of Mexican American school segregation across the Southwest, a yearslong effort initially spearheaded by Blackwell alumni themselves.
“Built in 1909, the school serves as a significant example of how racism and cultural disparity dominated education and social systems in the United States during this period of de facto segregation from 1889 to 1965,” the Interior Department said in a statement. “The designation permanently protects the site and helps tell the history of Texas school districts that established separate elementary schools for Mexican American children.”
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s formal establishment of the site comes after last month’s deal to transfer ownership of the Blackwell School and its surrounding land from Marfa’s school district to the National Park Service.
“This site is a powerful reminder of our nation’s diverse and often complex journey toward equality and justice,” Haaland said in a statement.
The National Parks Conservation Association, which advocated for the historic site designation alongside the local Blackwell School Alliance, said in a statement that the old schoolhouse will become “only the second such site dedicated to modern Latino history.”
“Today, the Blackwell School is fully entrusted to the American people as a place of history, learning, and healing,” Daniel Hernandez, a Marfa native and president of the Blackwell School Alliance, said in a statement. “By honoring the legacy of Blackwell School, we recognize the resilience and contributions of the Latino community in our shared history.”
The National Park Service has already begun its planning process for the new site. The first step involves drafting a “foundation document” that will guide the agency’s development of the site. A public comment period for that document ended on July 12, though park service officials have said they will continue to seek input on the process as it moves forward.
In the meantime, the schoolhouse is open in its current form with regular weekend hours and tours available by request via the park service’s Blackwell’s website.
“We have not seen funding yet from the government to pay for positions, but now that’s going to change,” said David Larson, superintendent of the nearby Fort Davis National Historic Site who has helped lead the Blackwell planning. “As we build capacity with staffing, and even volunteers, then we’ll be able to have the park open during weekdays.”
Within a few weeks, Larson said, visitors and locals should see National Park Service signage installed at Blackwell.
Copyright 2024 Marfa Public Radio