William Henry Burnett

The Handbook of Texas adds the family to the educator. Burnett married Florence Alberta Clemmons in 1902, their only son was born in 1906, and she died in 1924; he then married Lillie Franklin. The Handbook says he met parents about their children's futures at a time when many Black families took children out of school for the cotton harvest, and that his standards influenced young African Americans beyond Terrell. He belonged to St. James A.M.E. Church, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, now Old Oakwood. The Handbook calls his school the Old Colored School.

What the plaque says

William Henry Burnett (1872 - 1944) In the 1880s Presbyterian missionary Alexander R. Wilson began conducting school in the rural South Prong community of Ellis County. One of his pupils was a promising black farm boy named William Henry Burnett. Through Wilson's personal guidance, Burnett received an education and was awarded a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Trained as a teacher, he returned to Texas where he dedicated his life to the education of black children. After teaching in several communities, including South Prong, Burnett became principal of Terrell's Black School in 1900. Among his accomplishments during 44 years of service in that capacity were the organization of the system's first high school program and the formation of a school band which he directed. Noted for his public speaking ability and his teacher workshops and seminars, he became one of the leading educators of the state. He was also an active Mason, church member and civic leader. Burnett's commitment to quality education had a dramatic impact on the development of Terrell's school system. Because of his lasting contributions to area children, the elementary school at this site was named for him in 1979. (1982)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum — 1.0 mi
  A free museum at Terrell's airport where about 2,200 RAF cadets learned to fly between 1941 and 1945, with logbooks, uniforms, letters and original training aircraft.
• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 17 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.

More markers nearby

• The American National Bank of Terrell — 0.7 mi
• Homesite of Gov. Oscar Branch Colquitt — 0.8 mi
• Robert A. Terrell — 0.8 mi
• First United Methodist Church of Terrell — 0.9 mi