<p>The provisional governorship appointment in 1865 was during the early years of Reconstruction following the Civil War. The Reconstruction Era refers both to the history of the nation in its entirety from 1865-1877, following the Civil War, and the Congress mandated and directed transformation of the Southern United States that had seceded during the Civil War. The Reconstruction Era of the Southern US refers to the years 1863-1877. Originally from Alabama, Hamilton moved with his family to Texas in the 1840s. Because he was an opponent to secession, Hamilton left Texas during the Civil War.</p>

<p>&nbsp;Hamilton attended law school in Alabama and moved to Texas in 1846 to be with his brother, Morgan. He opened a law practice in La Grange, Texas and moved to Austin three years later to begin his political career. Hamilton was acting as governor of the state when the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, was ratified by the nation. However, the state of Texas did not ratify the amendment until 1870. Following the rejection of his plans at the Constitutional Convention of 1866, Hamilton became against Johnson’s Reconstruction plans and subsequently spoke in favor of Black suffrage. He also organized the Southern Loyalists’ Convention in Philadelphia at which he spoke out against President Johnson and joined the Radical Republicans.</p>

"The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877" by Kenneth M. Stampp

Book

Reconstruction and 1876: Crash Course US History #22

Video

Learn more about the history of Reconstruction

Other

Andrew Jackson Hamilton was a prominent Texas politician during the nineteenth century. He was the State Attorney General and a member of the State Legislature before he was elected to US Congress in 1859. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed him Provisional Governor of Texas. He also served as an Associate Justice on the Texas Supreme Court from 1867-1869 and ran for Governor in 1866 and 1869; however, he was unsuccessful. He practiced law in Austin his entire life up until his death in 1875.

Andrew Jackson Hamilton - Historical Marker

This short walk through Austin's east side includes numerous historic homes and museums as well as the Texas State Cemetery. Highlights of the tour include the Texas Music Museum, George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, and the French Legation Museum. 

The style of architecture originated in Mexico and was popular in some parts of the country in the 1920s. Briones continued to make changes to the house for the rest of his life, including a large addition in the 1960s.

This unusual house is truly unique in Austin. It was built by Genaro P. Briones who used his skills as a bricklayer and plasterer to create the home out of reinforced concrete, on which he included tinted concrete ornamentation such as molded stones, flowers, stars, and trees. He learned of this style from Dionicio Rodgriguez, an artist from San Antonio. The house remains Briones' best and most preserved work and is great example of Texas folk architecture. It took him fourteen years to build it, from 1947-1953. He lived on the first floor (it is a duplex) with his wife until he died in 1979. It remains a private residence today but can be easily seen from the street. It is located in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood and locals call it the "Casa de Sueños" (the house of dreams).

Genaro P. and Carolina Briones House

<div>This late Victorian, T-plan home was constructed sometime between 1901 and 1904 (sources vary) for George A. Peterson. Peterson was a partner with C.O. Lindahl in a grocery and feed business on east 6th Street. The home stands as an outstanding model of a well-crafted, Victorian, T-plan residence, one of the few remaining homes with a similar style that proved highly popular in Austin in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Although the home arose in the first few years of the twentieth century, the history of the land dates back to 1841, part of a large property owned by Joseph W. Robertson. His descendants eventually sold much of his land, and now many historic homes sit on that land. Indeed, since 1877, the real estate located on that land has been known as the George L. Robertson subdivision also associated with nearby "Robertson Hill."&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Peterson came to Texas from Sweden by way of Minnesota in 1890, and evolved into a prominent merchant in Austin; he operated a grocery and dry goods store. Peterson lived in the historic house from sometime between 1901 to 1904 until 1923 when he sold it to Albert H. Stroud, a Southern Pacific Railroad engineer.&nbsp; Though the Peterson house stood among many Victorian, T-plan homes when constructed, the home's clip-cornered, elaborated front bay is a unique variation on the T plan, which is unusual for East Austin.&nbsp; All windows are one-over-one, double-hung sash and the front porch features spindled balusters, elaborate brackets, and a spindled canopy.&nbsp;</div>

This Victorian home was built between 1901 and 1904. The T-plan home is named for Swedish immigrant and prominent merchant, George A. Peterson. The home's clip-cornered facade and elaborate front bay serves as a noteworthy albeit unusual variation of the T-plan style, which was highly popular in Austin around the turn of the twentieth century. 

George A. Peterson House

<div>Located adjacent to Austin's oldest standing, wood structure, the French Legation, The Rogers-Bell House stands as an exemplary masonry, Eastlake-style cottage, which differs from the abundance of Victorian architecture nearby.&nbsp; The house stands on land formerly owned by the Joseph W. Robertson family, who resided next door at the old French Legation. Hence, the area is referred to as Robertson Hill.&nbsp; The structure served as the home to Martin E. Rogers and his wife for nearly fifty years, followed by Lewis D. Lyons -- informally referred to as the Black Mayor of East Austin, and then Jerry Bell, who worked as the Governor Allan Shivers' chauffeur and houseman.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Martin E. Rogers purchased the land in 1891 and constructed the home on the property in 1893. For a short time during the 1940s,&nbsp; Lewis D Lyons, one of the city's most influential African Americans (informally referred to as the Black Mayor of East Austin) resided in the house.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Rogers worked as a bridge foreman for the Austin and Northwestern Railroad at the time of buying the house, and he eventually climbed the proverbial ladder and served as Assistant Roadmaster and Superintendent of Buildings and Bridges for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. Throughout his career, he lived in the home with his wife, Addie Loving Rogers. Both of them remained in the house until Martin passed away in 1942.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1943, Lewis D. Lyons purchased the home from Rogers family at a time when eastern Austin evolved into a predominantly African American community. It was one of many major American cities where urban communities grew divided with African Americans moving to one specific section of the city. As one of Austin's most prominent Black citizens and landholders, Lyons owned and operated a grocery store, served as a leader at Wesley Chapel Methodist Church, was a trustee at Samuel Huston College, and worked as the Secretary of the Friend in Need Society of Austin. Mr. Lyons was also the city's only Black bondsman. All his work and accomplishments afforded him the informal title of "Black Mayor of East Austin."&nbsp; However, he only resided in the home for a short time because he died in 1944.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Lyons' widow, Mattie Ruth, remained in the home and eventually remarried to Jerry Bell in 1951, who moved into the historic home with Mattie Ruth. Bell stayed in the house until 1984 when he moved to a nursing facility. During his time in the house, Bell worked as a chauffeur and houseman for more than thirty years for Allan Shivers, who served as Texas' governor from 1949 to 1957.&nbsp; During his time as governor, and while Bell served as his paid servant, Shivers opposed the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that deemed desegregation unconstitutional. Indeed, Shivers ordered the Texas Rangers in 1956 to prevent Black students from entering the public school in Mansfield, Texas. His administration also endured scandals related to fraud against African American War Veterans.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In sum, to view the house is to peer into several aspects of Austin's history. From its connection to the Robertsons and the French Legation to the deep, yet complicated nature of African American history in Austin, notably at a time when desegregation and the push for Civil Rights grew to become a significant issue in Texas and the nation.&nbsp;</div>

The Rogers-Bell House stands on land formerly owned by the Joseph W. Robertson family, who resided next door at the old French Legation, Austin's oldest standing, wood structure. Hence, the area is referred to as Robertson Hill. The structure served as the home to Martin E. Rogers and his wife for nearly fifty years, followed by two notable African Americans, Lewis D. Lyons -- informally referred to as the Black Mayor of East Austin, and then Jerry Bell, who worked as the Governor Allan Shivers' chauffeur and houseman. Rogers and Lyons moved in at a time when East Austin grew into a predominantly African American neighborhood. 

Rogers-Bell House

<p>Alphonse Dubois de Saligny was sent to Austin to gather more information about the newly established Republic of Texas and ascertain whether the French government ought to recognize it, which it eventually did. However, the capital moved from Austin to Houston and consequently&nbsp;the legation was no longer needed. Saligny sold it before it was completed to a Catholic Bishop who then sold it again to a man named Moseley Baker.<br></p><p>Baker then&nbsp;sold it to&nbsp;Dr. Joseph W. Robertson&nbsp;in 1848.&nbsp;The Robertson family (his wife and&nbsp;11 children - 5 girls and 6 boys) and their descendants&nbsp;lived in the house for about a century. Robertson’s last remaining daughters, Miss Lillie Robertson, who died in 1939, and Miss Sarah Robertson, who died in 1940, in their later years
opened the house to the public calling it “Old French Embassy”. Both of them were
very interested in the preservation of the house, and allowed in 1934 the house
to be surveyed for the Historic American Building Survey (HABS). Following
their deaths, the house was sold to the state of Texas in 1950 which then appointed the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT)
as the property’s custodian. As state above, the DRT opened the French
Legation Museum to the public in 1956. Today, the Museum is devoted to sharing
the site’s past and rich cultural history of Texas with the public.</p><p>



</p><p>The building was added as a Recorded Texas Landmark in 1967,
listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and in 1974
designated as a State Historical Landmark. In 1981, the site was designated as
a Texas State Archaeological Landmark.</p><p></p>

This house was built in 1841 to be home of Alphonse Dubois de Saligny, the French Charge de'Affaires (a diplomatic representative of lower status than an ambassador) to the Republic of Texas. The house was never used for its intended purpose because the capital moved from Austin to Houston the same year. In 1848 the estate was purchased by Dr. Joseph W. Robertson, and served as his family private residence for about 90 years. It is the oldest extant frame structure in Austin. It opened as a museum in 1956.

French Legation Museum

<div>The Robert Irvin home (built in 1885) stands as one of the first residential structures constructed on Robertson Hill, a multi-ethnic Austin neighborhood that grew substantially during the last few decades of the nineteenth century. Robert Irvine worked as a carpenter, contractor, and builder.&nbsp; While the house enjoys less ornate features than many homes built during the period, the Robert-Irvine home stands out due to its gabled roof, T-plan architectural design, and attractive porch.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The T-plan differs from the plethora of box-shaped homes built during the era, but it also enjoys less ornate features. The one-story, wood-frame, T-plan Victorian structure combines simple elegance with pragmatism. For instance, its wide porch, supported by three columns, not only serves as an attractive feature, but also adds to the already 3,500-plus square feet of living space in the Irvin House.&nbsp; The T-Plan also requires an expansive roof. Sitting atop the roof is a large, finely detailed brick chimney, centered on the intersection of the two gable ridges, and a less elaborate brick flue (probably associated with the kitchen) located at the rear of the T-section.</div><div><br></div><div>Austin population growth slowed during the Civil War, but the arrival of the railroads during the 1870s (along with gaining the rights to become the state capital and home city to the University of Texas) fostered a renewed population boom.&nbsp; With railways located in East Austin, the once-sparsely populated area of Austin suddenly transformed into a popular spot for residents. The Robertson Hill neighborhood, named for the Robertson family who sold many of its lots in the area, exists as the location for which Robert Irvin settled during the 1880s.&nbsp;</div>

The Robert Irvin home, built in 1885 and located in East Austin, is unique for its T-plan design, which differed from more "boxy" houses that emerged during the late nineteenth century. The home is located in the Robertson Hill neighborhood, which enjoyed a population boom during the last few decades of the nineteenth century, largely comprised of European immigrants and African Americans. 

 Robert Irvin House

Founded in 1984, the Texas Music Museum celebrates the state's rich musical heritage. Its collection is comprised of artifacts, photographs, documents, reference materials, and oral histories. Genres covered are: Texas Historic and Patriotic, Country, Gospel, Classical, Cowboy, Big Band, Western Swing, Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Jazz, Ragtime and Barrelhouse, Soul, and Popular, as well as Texas ethnic music, including Tejano, Czech, African American, German, and Native American. The museum is housed in the Marvin C. Griffin Building.

Texas Music Museum

<div>Constructed in 1876, the wood frame, Greek Revival house served as the private German American Ladies College for four years, from 1877 until Austin's public school system began operations in 1881. Its emergence demonstrates the difficulties Austin enjoyed after the Civil War in establishing a public school system; thus, private schools proved critical to the community.&nbsp; As well, it serves as evidence of the significance of German immigration into Central Texas, including Austin.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>For much of the nineteenth century, few public schools existed throughout Texas, leaving most of the educational responsibilities to local communities, who regularly relied on private schools. However, when Texas formally returned to the Union in 1870 (post-Civil-War), the state legislature passed a bill that made attendance in schools compulsory as a means of establishing a public education system. However, the law mainly went ignored until the enactment of the new Texas Constitution in 1876, which provided outlines for a permanent public school fund. As a result, Austin attempted to establish a public school system in 1871, but a lack of teachers and funding hindered that progress, which allowed for private schools to thrive. Indeed, thirty-four private schools operated in Austin (with nearly a dozen of them all-girls schools) between 1871–1875, which correlates to a period of explosive population growth in Austin. By 1881, the number rose to forty-eight private schools operating in the city, including German American Ladies College.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The German American Ladies College, under the direction of two German immigrants, Alice Nohl and Natalie Von Schenck, opened its doors in 1871 at a rented building. By the end of the first semester, the two women hired four additional teachers and enrolled another 50 students. One of the rules of the institution obliges the pupils to speak English three days a week and German on the remaining days so that young ladies not acquainted with the former or the latter language have the opportunity to learn it in the shortest time.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The attachment to the German language speaks to a German-immigrant population that sought to maintain its motherland culture.&nbsp; Many Germans departed Germany as political or economic refugees and then arrived in the Hill Country during the mid-nineteenth century. So, although they felt compelled to leave, they strove to maintain their strong cultural identity, which is also evidenced in the area by local architecture and churches.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Though it is not clear why they needed to move to a new location, the directors moved the school in 1877 to the historic wood-frame building, having leased the two-story house Julius Moreau had contracted with Frederick Braun to build the previous year.&nbsp; Four years later, in 1881, Anna Von Schenck Ritz arrived in Austin to teach alongside her sisters at the German American Ladies College. However, but by the time of her arrival, the school had closed alongside an abundance of private schools that same year; the public school system in Austin took over as the primary education system that year.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>After the school closed, the house continued to function as a home to numerous, prominent and influential family of teachers. Anna Von Schenck Ritz remained in the home despite the closing of the college, and her daughters Helene and Maria taught music and language courses at the nearby Stuart Female Seminary for more than a decade. Maria married Gustav Sievers, and the two of them went on to train a generation of young musicians. In short, the need for private schools combined with the influx of German immigration provided the impetus for the house, and its residents, to have a significant impact on the community's culture and education.&nbsp;</div>

The German American Ladies College was constructed in 1876 and functioned for a few years as a private all-girls day school from 1877 to 1881. The college represents a period when private colleges were widespread but opportunities for higher education was generally limited to those from wealthy and middle-class families. The college also serves as a reminder of the significance of German immigration into the region and the desire of recent immigrants to create the kinds of institutions that would preserve the traditions and culture of their homeland. The college was founded by Alice Nohl and Natalie Von Schenck, and when their school closed in 1881,  Anna Von Schenck Ritz maintained the home and many of her family members worked as teachers, including her daughters Helene and Maria who taught music and language courses at Austin's Stuart Female Seminary.

German American Ladies College (1877 to 1881)

<div>The Administration Building at Huston-Tillotson College (built, 1914) enjoys Prairie School design, an architectural style developed by developed primarily by Frank Lloyd Wright. Huston-Tillotson students manufactured the building's bricks as part of the school's commitment to providing its students (mainly comprised of African Americans) with practical training in trades such as construction, mechanics and industrial jobs. The building is named after Anthony E. Viaer, an alumnus of the Class of 1958 who provided students with a $1 million scholarship opportunity.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1914, when the Administration Building opened its doors, the college had been known as Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute. Tillotson College served African American students, providing them with a liberal arts education as well as emphasizing industrial and technical training.&nbsp; Indeed, a&nbsp;facility for teaching industrial classes had been constructed during its charger year in 1887, followed by Evans Industrial Hall in 1912. The direct student involvement of constructing the Administration Building demonstrates the college's commitment to providing students with practical training in the industrial arts.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The 1952 merger of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College further allowed the university, which became known as Huston-Tillotson College, to add a strong focus on the sciences to its overall pedagogical emphasis. By 2000, the institution had achieved University status and is known as Huston-Tillotson University today. The school retains&nbsp;ties to the African American community, as well as The United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ.</div>

Constructed in 1914, this building was long-known as the Administration Building for Tillotson College. The building is now Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall and part of Huston-Tillotson University, a coeducational and historically African American academic institution formed by the merger of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College in 1952. The building was formed with concrete blocks manufactured by students in the industrial education program at Tillotson College, an educational institution which was chartered in 1877.

Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall, Huston-Tillotson University 

<div>Blackshear moved from its original location on Olive Street to 11th Street when it was renamed in 1936. Before this move, news publications of the time reported terrible conditions at the school. A 1933 story in the <i>Austin American</i> reported that conditions were "deplorable," writing, "For that 450-pupil school...there are only 11 teachers and a principal. [They] seem capable and willing, but cannot accomplish their best with the equipment they have at their disposal." Continuing, the campus "is obviously a firetrap, and nothing has been done about it."</div><div><br><div>The campus went through a series of improvements when it moved in 1936. Ivy League-educated Friendly R. Rice started working as assistant principal at Blackshear in 1931 and was a leader at the school until 1972. He was widely regarded as a progressive educator and was given the freedom to implement his innovative ideas. He collaborated with social service agencies to build a library and provide hot lunches for students, which was at the time an unusual feature eventually implemented throughout the district. The library was the first at a Black school in the Southwest.<br><br></div></div><div><div>In 2014, Blackshear began offering expansive fine arts programming. It is the first elementary school in Austin to do so. The fine arts program includes instruction about the works of Shakespeare, including creating full-length stage productions, music instruction, and instruction in visual art and storytelling.</div><div><br></div></div>

In 1891, Blackshear Elementary School opened to provide free education to African American children in the area then known as Gregory Town. It was originally named School No. 3, then Gregory Town School and Gregory School. It was named after Edward Blackshear (1862-1919) in 1936. Blackshear was a nineteenth-century teacher and principal. He left Austin in 1895 to serve as head of Prairie View College.


Blackshear Elementary School - Historical Marker

<p>The museum houses an extensive collection of books, photographs, manuscripts, maps, and other materials that document the history of African Americans. It also hosts exhibitions that focus primarily on black history and culture, featuring photographs and artifacts that illuminate different aspects of African American history and culture. The museum is housed in a 1,720 square foot, city owned building that was originally the main public library in Austin and the first library for blacks in the town. The building was moved to east Austin in 1933, where it became the Austin public library's first branch. </p><p>The museum was located in a former library that was known as the "Colored Branch" between its establishment in 1926 and 1947, when the building was renamed the George Washington Carver Library in honor of the famous scientist, activist, and educator. Carver was raised in the Great Plains, having attended the segregated schools of Fort Scott and enduring both Jim Crow and rejection from colleges before achieving an advanced degree in Iowa. In the mid-1970s, east Austin residents lobbied for a larger branch library, which was completed in 1980 on a site adjacent to the old building Janie Harrison, Fanny Lawless, Onie B. Conley, and other community members decided that the original building would be an ideal site for a Black-history museum. Renovations of the old library building began in September 1979, and the museum opened to the public on October 5, 1980, and was expanded with a new facility in 2001. The museum provides invaluable support to Black artists by organizing solo exhibitions of their work and has been hosting the Regional Black Artists exhibition since 1983.</p><p>The Carver Museum's permanent collection consists of paintings, prints, family papers, and memorabilia related to Austin African Americans. The museum supplements many programs within the site. It exhibits educational tours, concerts, storytelling, and other activities. It also operates a Youth at Risk program in which people are taught black-and-white photography during sixteen-week courses that culminate in exhibitions of their work. </p><p>The museum is funded by the city, government grants, and donations from corporations and private foundations. The Friends of the Carver, a support group that has been operating since the museum's inception, also provides financial support. The museum had developed an ambitious $11.5 million three-phase plan by 1992 to establish a Black heritage and cultural center with a theater and expanded exhibition and storage space. The Carver Museum is a member of the Texas Association of Museums and the African American Museum Association.</p>

<p>The George Washington Carver Museum is the first neighborhood museum in Austin dedicated exclusively to African American history. The museum and center are located next to a public library that was created in 1926 to serve the African American community of Austin in the era of segregation. That library became home to a small museum in 1980. A 1998 bond initiative led to the construction of the expansive museum next to the original library. The museum offers exhibits that share the experiences and contributions of African American residents. The museum is housed in a 36,000-square-foot facility with four galleries, a conference room, a classroom, studio, 134-seat theater, and archival space. The galleries feature a core exhibit on Juneteenth, a permanent exhibit on Austin's African American families, an artists’ gallery, and a children’s exhibit on African-American scientists and inventors.</p>

George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center

<div>The 1876 Limerick-Frazier House is a modified I-plan house with a connection to both immigration and African-American history in Austin. Immigrant stonemason Joseph Limerick built the house, although he and his wife Elizabeth never occupied the home. By the time Professor John W. Frazier purchased the house in 1905, the home's location within East Austin had evolved into a predominantly African-American community, in part due to official and informal segregation policies common to Austin and many U.S. cities. As such, the history of the house reflects this demographic change in Austin.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Only 600 people called Austin home in 1850, but ten years later, in 1860, the population had reached nearly 4,000. An influx of immigrants and U.S. migrants, along with the arrival of the railroad in 1871, combined to usher in a new, more intense period of growth in Austin; the population exceeded 11,000 by 1880. Thus, the physical size of Austin also grew demonstrated by the dozen subdivisions constructed in East Austin between 1870 and 1880 (mainly located near the railway).&nbsp; The demographics of late-nineteenth-century East Austin were marked by its racial and ethnic diversity, with such groups as Germans, Swedes, and African Americans moving into the neighborhood.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Joseph and Elizabeth Limerick purchased the East Austin lot in1852. Joseph, born 1798, was a laborer who immigrated to the United States (Austin) around 1850. He worked in Austin as a stonemason and active real estate investor, with the lot purchase in 1852 as part of his investing. The Limericks built the house in 1876, but they never lived there.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>A.J. Adkisson, who owned a marble business with his son, and his wife Abigale purchased the property from the Limericks in 1880 and lived in the home until 1893 when they sold it to the Herrick Family. In 1905, John and Laura Frazier purchased the house from the Herricks and lived there until 1977.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>John W. Frazier, and educator was born to slave parents in Stockdale, North Carolina during the Civil War (1864).&nbsp; In 1880, at age 16, Frazier entered Bennett Seminary (now Bennett College) in Greensboro, North Carolina, graduating in 1886. After graduating, he promptly took a job as a teacher in Victoria, Texas where he remained for fourteen years. In 1900, he moved to Austin and taught mathematics at the newly formed&nbsp; Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson College). Both John and Laura worked for several organizations such as groups that promoted academic excellence and social justice.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>His move to Austin coincided with a decided demographic shift in Austin due to the nearly complete displacement of Austin's Black population into East Austin.&nbsp; During the years after Reconstruction (1865-1876), white Austin residents largely moved west and north, a pattern that persisted through the mid-twentieth-century and ultimately shaped the city's demographic landscape, which in many ways remains today.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>After 1900, Black communities located west of downtown Austin became the target of passive discriminatory practices designed specifically to displace African American landowners. For instance, zoning laws prohibited the raising of livestock within city limits, Black schools were shut down, the city routinely terminated property leases, and insurance companies and banks made attaining loans and policies almost impossible (the act of "redlining").&nbsp; In 1928, city planners even went so far as to develop a plan that specifically called for the creation of a Negro district in East Austin, though it was never "officially" implemented. Indeed, by 1940, there existed almost no evidence of any Black communities outside of East Austin.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>A byproduct of urban segregation involved the creation of a tight-knit Black community complete with businesses, churches, and colleges that solely catered to African Americans. Meanwhile, Laura Frazier operated the house as a place of lodging for African-American students and travelers during the 1930s.</div><div><br></div><div>In recent years, it has become popular as a home that celebrates African American history through cooking, serving as a museum and cultural center where culinary competitions took place during the Black Arts Movement's annual BAM! Festival, among other food-focused events.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>To view the house is to see several chapters of Austin's history. The physical existence of the house can be tied to Austin's early population boom, which included many immigrants. However, over time, as Jim Crow laws and segregation policies became the norm, East Austin grew as an African American community, set apart from the rest of Austin. It's primary residents, John and Laura Fraizer, were born to planters and slaves in the Carolinas during the Civil War.&nbsp;</div>

The historic home was built in 1876 near Swede Hill by immigrant and stonemason Joseph Limerick, and later purchased in 1905 by John W. Frazier, an son of slaves who was a professor at Samuel Huston College. The home represents both the chapter of Austin's history where immigrants and migrants help boost the population, much of it into East Austin. Later, as a result of segregation, East Austin grew into an African American neighborhood. After John died, hhis widow, Laura Allman Frazier, operated the house as lodging for African American students and travelers because they were not allowed to stay at white hotels. 

Central East Austin Walking Tour

Andrew Jackson Hamilton - Historical Marker

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information