While doing unrelated research in the Freedmen’s Bureau records for Texas, I came across this printed antebellum advertisement for the Houston Academy. Today, a plaque at the Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) marks the school’s site, but records about the academy are scarce, so every scrap about its history seems valuable.
Of course, having recently worked on a task force about Rice University’s history, I immediately noticed William Marsh Rice’s name as a trustee. His role as an incorporator of this version of the academy has long been known, but I don’t recall seeing B. A. Shepherd, namesake of Rice’s Shepherd School, identified as president of the board.
The undated antebellum advertisement was included with an 1867 letter to the bureau by Professor E. Pettit as evidence of his connections in Houston; by then, Pettit (who said he had always been a Unionist) was residing in Anderson County and inquiring about starting a manual labor school for formerly enslaved people in the region.
(Source: FamilySearch.)
