Fronteras: Exploring the little-known history of the first school system in Texas organized ‘top to bottom’ by Mexican Americans

By Norma Martinez,

Marian Navarro

Published July 28, 2023 at 4:00 AM CDT

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Class photo from Miss Albina Galindo Garcia's 1904 class in San Felipe School, Del Rio.

Whitehead Memorial Museum – Del Rio, TX.

2 of 9 — Figure 3. San Felipe Youth Club, est. 6.16.1905, Courtesy Whitehead Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.JPG

Club Sebastian Lerdo Tejada de Jovenes, established June 16, 1905. Photo courtesy of Whitehead Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.

3 of 9 — Figure 7. School Board Members, 1930, Courtesy San Felipe Exes Memorial Musuem, Del Rio, Texas.png

SFISD school board members, 1930. Left to right: Rodolfo Gutiérrez, José Rubio, Cástulo Gutiérrez, Santos Garza, Demetrio Castañeda, Leandro Jiménez, and Pedro Rodríguez. Photo courtesy of San Felipe Exes Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.

4 of 9 — Figure 9. First Graduate Class, 1932, Courtesy San Felipe Exes Memorial Musuem, Del Rio, Texas.jpg

First graduating class from San Felipe High School, 1932. Left to right: Guillermo Calderón, Elida Garza, Julia Valdez, Antonio Morales Jr., Estela Garza, Margot Cuellar, and Ubil Frausto. Photo courtesy of San Felipe Exes Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.

5 of 9 — Figure 8. San Felipe High School, 1937, Courtesy El Conquistador, San Felipe Exes Memorial Musuem, Del Rio, Texas.jpg

San Felipe High School, 1937. Photo courtesy of El Conquistador (SFHS yearbook), San Felipe Exes Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.

6 of 9 — Figure 24. Graduate Class, 1970, Courtesy El Conquistador, San Felipe Exes Memorial Musuem, Del Rio, Texas.jpg

SFHS graduating class, 1970. Photo courtesy of El Conquistador, San Felipe Exes Memorial Museum, Del Rio, Texas.

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A federal court ordered the San Felipe ISD to merge with the neighboring Del Rio ISD in 1971 amid a push to officially integrate segregated school system.

Whitehead Memorial Museum – Del Rio, TX.

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On the left, a district map of the separate Del Rio ISD and San Felipe ISD school districts in Del Rio, TX . On the right, a proposed district map of what consolidation of the districts would look like.

Whitehead Memorial Museum – Del Rio, TX.

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San Felipe and Del Rio High School lettermans and cardigans on display at the Whitehead Memorial Museum in Del Rio. The 2021 exhibit celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Consolidation of San Felipe and Del Rio ISDs.

Whitehead Memorial Museum – Del Rio, TX.

The San Felipe Independent School District in Del Rio was established in 1929 by Mexican Americans to serve Mexican American students in the San Felipe barrio.

The district drew on the heritage of the community to educate their children in their own way. Students were taught in Spanish and teachers were able to better communicate with parents.

Del Rio was also home to the larger, more affluent Del Rio Independent School District.

Jesús Esparza, assistant professor at Texas Southern University in Houston, explores the conflict between the two school districts in his upcoming book, Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town (Sept. 19, 2023).

Esparza said while San Felipe ISD was able to manage its schools, it often struggled because of unequal distribution of funding.

Jesús Esparza is an assistant professor in the Department of History & Geography at Texas Southern University in Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book, "Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town."

“States often did not provide the same number of dollars that they did for Mexican American students than they did for white students,” he said. “The same could be said about their classroom facilities.”

In the 1950s, the opening of Laughlin Air Force Base promised a slew of new students to the city.

A federal judge later ruled that sending students to the predominantly white Del Rio ISD was discrimination.

The two school districts were ordered to consolidate into one, erasing portions of San Felipe’s history altogether.

Esparza said the consolidation proved difficult, especially for the students of San Felipe.

“There's all kinds of internalized problems that emerge as a result of integration,” he said. “Integration in this case, takes the schools away from Mexican Americans.”