San Felipe Independent School District

In 1930 parents in the neighboring Del Rio district sued over segregated schooling, and the Salvatierra case became a cause for the young League of United Latin American Citizens. M. C. Gonzales, elected LULAC's president general in 1931, joined the case free of charge, and a local Comite Pro-Defensa Escolar backed the parents. After the loss on appeal, LULAC turned its World War I monument fund into a School Defense Fund, and its councils raised more than $1,000 despite the Depression. On October 26, 1931, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

What the plaque says

San Felipe Independent School District From its early days, the historically Hispanic community on the east side of San Felipe Creek has made education a priority, erecting a schoolhouse by 1883. Although the 1890 creation of Del Rio Independent School District (I.S.D.) did not include San Felipe, residents persisted and by 1909, the community had two schools. During the 1920s, San Felipe's school population continued to increase as immigrants came here from Mexico. In 1928, Del Rio I.S.D. annexed a large portion of San Felipe Common School District, including most of the community and both schools, in an effort to gain tax revenue. San Felipe residents, led by school trustees Santos Garza, Hernan Cadena and Andres Cortinas, opposed the action. A district court sided with the community, reversing the annexation. Santos Garza and attorney Rodolfo Gutierrez then worked to create an independent school district; Garza presented a petition to Val Verde County school trustees, and San Felipe Independent School District was formally established in 1929. The District completed a new high school building in 1930, which became a focal point of the community. San Felipe I.S.D. served Del Rio's east side until 1971, when a federal court ruled that it must consolidate with Del Rio I.S.D. for integration purposes. Both districts were abolished and the new San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District was formed. Today San Felipe Independent School District continues to be remembered as an integral part of the movement for educational and social equality for Americans of Mexican descent in Texas. (2009)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Felipe Creek — 0.5 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 1.1 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.2 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 9.8 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• San Felipe High School — steps away
• Langston School — 0.4 mi
• Site of Camp Del Rio — 0.5 mi
• Santos S. Garza — 0.6 mi