TEMPLE, Texas — Temple ISD is placing a historical marker on their new elementary school campus to honor a man who helped pave the way for integration in schools in Temple and across the state.
“He was strong, he pressed. He pressed his way. We benefited from that,” Temple ISD School Board Trustee Linell Davis said.
You may know Samspon-Howard Elementary is opening in Temple next Fall but you may not know about Cornelius Carl Sampson—one of the people the school is named after.
Davis said Sampson was her father and uncle’s football coach and math teacher at Dunbar High School.
“My dad was a brilliant mathematician. That was one of Professor Sampson’s main courses that he taught. Daddy learned something. He handled the budget of the household by working his math,” Davis said.
Sampson was a Temple native—graduating as Valedictorian from the Temple Negro School in 1915.
“He was a student worker while he was in high school. He was a janitor. Then became a science teacher. Served in the military,” Temple ISD Superintendent Dr. Bobby Ott said.
He would go on to serve as principal at Dunbar High School for 14 years.
“He was an outstanding community leader and helped our teachers. Made sure that they were qualified,” Davis said.
After his time at Dunbar, Sampson was named the principal of an African-American high school in Corpus Christi. There he gave a key testimony in a 1970 landmark court case, which paved the way for integration of the school system and expanding civil rights to all minorities.
“We are a more inclusive society educationally. We are responsible for educating all students no matter the ethnicity and he had a big part in that with the court case Brown v. the Board of Education,” Dr. Ott said.
To honor his legacy, Temple ISD is also placing a historical marker on the campus new fine arts academy bearing Sampson’s name.
“For him to take the stance that he did to make sure that students were educated, to make sure that the teachers were certified, he stuck his neck out,” Davis said.
The school is also named after Durward and Jean Howard. They were both teachers at Temple High School.
Temple ISD officials said they are also working on getting a state historical marker approved for to honor their legacy as well.
