CHSAA
Rosenwald School
Concord High School Alumni Association
Built in 1925, the Concord Rosenwald School started as an eight grade school, and later moved to twelve grades. Over the years, an elementary building, an agricultural building, and a gymnasium were built on the property. The school conducted classes until 1971, when Concord Common School District merged with Henderson ISD. The Concord High School Alumni Association now owns the property and plans to restore the building. The Concord Rosenwald School will receive a $75,000 grant through Preservation Texas’s Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program.
- Historic
- Community
- Nonprofit
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY
On Saturday, July 13th, a successful groundbreaking ceremony was held with over 100 attendees. The event was graced by notable figures such as Conor Herterich from Preservation Texas, Dr. Perky Beisel of SFASU History Department, architect Mark Thacker, East Texas Historian Greg Muckelroy, and Barbara Govan, the great-granddaughter of Professor J. FrankAlexander.
The ceremony celebrated the legacy of the fifteen African American landowners from the Concord Common School District No. 9, who 1923 signed a petition to issue $1,500 bonds to build the Concord Rosenwald School. Relatives and participants symbolically used shovels to commemorate their facilitation of the Concord Rosenwald School.
CBS19 of Tyler assigned Producer Coretta Williams, daughter of Brenda Caddell Williams ’64, and journalist Auyana Aird to film the ceremony. The spot was aired on Saturday night’s news segment at CBS19.
(Search Concord Groundbreaking on CBS19’s website to see the broadcast clip)
Key sponsors included Garmon Funeral Home (Tent), Union Springs Baptist Church (Bar-B-
Que), and Armetha Adams photographer, contributing to the events success.
President Alpheus E. Moss
On July 17th we completed the second phase of the 2025 TPTF Grant Application. If granted CHSAA will be required to match the requested funding of $50,000. These funds will be used to finance Project 3 (siding, windows, and doors) of the restoration project. Project 3 is projected to include the replacement of the siding, windows, and doors.
Those of you who have “promised” CHSAA and yourself that you will contribute to the restoration fund-the time is now! We need your donations of spiritual, physical, and financial help to expedite this project. This is going to be a beautiful structure dedicated to our ancestors. Travelers will be coming from near and far to visit this community. We must put on a good show!
The grantors who have supported CHSAA focuses on buildings associated with African American Heritage in rural communities to demonstrate the economic potential through the revitalization of
“neglected” historic places, supporting, and developing heritage tourism for rural communities.
From the Editors Desk
Dear Concord Rosenwald Alumni, I hope this message finds you well and in good spirits. As proud alumni of Concord Rosenwald, you are part of a remarkable legacy—a legacy that shaped not only our education but also our values, our community, and our future. Today, this legacy needs your help. The Concord Rosenwald Restoration Project is more than just a renovation; it is a mission to preserve the heart of our history for generations to come. Many of you have expressed your commitment through heartfelt pledges, recognizing the importance of this endeavor. Now, we urgently need you to turn those pledges into action. Your contributions are crucial to ensuring that this cherished institution can be restored to its former glory and continue to serve as a beacon of learning and community. Every dollar you contribute will help breathe new life into the halls where we once learned, dreamed, and grew together. Please, do not let this opportunity slip away. We are counting on you. Concord Rosenwald is counting on you. Let’s come together, as we always have, and make this restoration a reality.
Alumni Spotlight
Willie E. Gipson, a graduate of the CHS Class of 1966, is a remarkable figure in the automotive industry. Demonstrating extraordinary mechanical talent from a young age, Willie owned his own car and rebuilt engines by the age of thirteen. He had owned seven cars before he graduated high school while he held jobs as a mechanic. He had an affinity for street racing, souping up any vehicles available and turning them into speed demons and became the envy of the local racing participants. He has owned and operated more than 100 personal vehicles.
Drafted into the U.S. Army, his military stops included Fort Polk in Louisiana, Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Lee in Virginia, and Fort Bragg in California. He served in Vietnam in the 110th Air Control Squadron, making daring paratroop jumps into the jungles of Vietnam. After he repairs his fleet of tractor trailer rigs when necessary. At its apex Willie Trucking, owned and operated a fleet of nine Freightliner semi rigs hauling freight crisscrossing the United States. his military service, Willie worked as a tool and die specialist at Carrier Corp for 11 years and then ran his own auto body shop.
Willie E. Gipson
Currently, Willie operates Willie Trucking Company, managing interstate oversized freight hauling with lowboy trailers. He previously owned and operated pneumatic trailers for transporting fracking sands in the Louisiana and Texas oil fields. He also operated belly and end dump trailers in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His current rig of choice is Peterbilt. In addition to his trucking business, Willie is passionate about owning, repairing and dealing classic cars. He owns a 2000 Dodge
Viper. He recently sold his 1948 Chevy.
He and his wife, Melba, have been married for 54 years and reside in Tyler.
Bernice Thompson Jackson-Solomon
Bernice born December 13, 1922, was the second of thirteen children born to Arthur and Arnie Thompson in the Caledonia, Texas community. Bernice missed quite a bit of schooling working in her father’s fields and helping her mother with her younger siblings. Despite missing significant amounts of school, she was the salutatorian of her 1941 Concord High School graduating class.
Bernice’s first marriage ended in divorce shortly after World War II ended. Her only child George was born to this union. Bernice learned of ex-slaves moving North for a better life and decided to move to Cincinnati, Ohio before 1949. Bernice worked as a nursing assistant while attending nursing school to become a Licensed Practical Nurse. She cared for the sick for 34 years in Cincinnati as a registered nurse. In 1975 Bernice relocated to Tennessee.
In 2001, at the age of 79, Bernice was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of her 34 bed Residential Mental/Mentally Retarded Facility in Chattanooga, TN. The home was originally a homeless shelter and was transitioned into a home for the mentally challenged. Bernice operated the facility for 35 years.
In 2009 Bernice retuned to Caladonia
Historic Texas Community
Concord Community
Texas Historical Commission
Rosenwald School
The school was built in 1925 and initially housed eight grades. Unlike many Rosenwald schools, it was added onto and grew over the years so that by 1941 all twelve grades were housed there. In the 50s it operated on a system of split sessions so that school children could help their families with the seasonal work of picking and “chopping” cotton. After graduation in May, school reconvened in July for another six weeks, then school was closed in September and for the first half of October.
Students
The history of this school is so interesting. Not only did the students receive an above-par education for the time, but the school also conducted vocational projects with interracial cooperation and benefits to all who participated. They made mattresses, and canned food for the community, and as late ad the mid-60s, they purchased cucumbers from local farmers for sale in Marshal.
Miles Cemetery
The Miles Cemetery is the only remaining vestige of the Lawsonville community. However, the cemetery began as a family plot. It included the burials of the Miles family salves and African American citizens of the community. The earliest marked grave for Benjamin Franklin Miles is dated 1864. However, several unmarked graves suggest the possibility of earlier interments of members of the Miles family buried within a wrought iron fence enclosure, including that of Albert B. Miles, AP professor of surgery at Tulane University.
Alumni Members
Restoring Concord School
In 2008 the alumni group purchased the school, which was standing empty and had been pretty severely battered by a couple of hurricanes. The alumni are planning on restoring the building using government grants and donations. Concord was the pride of the community for a number of years.
Heritage Center
The school will be filled with information and educational material.
Historical Museum
Access to historical information and visual media containing the history of Rosenwald.
Tourist Attraction
The restoration of the school will attract tourist for East Texas areas and other near by near by locations.
Alumni
2024 CHSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
