‘La Escuelita’ - One-room school vital part of history for many area Hispanic families

You’ve driven past it hundreds of times without noticing. A small, white building that now sits quietly in the shade beside bustling US 79.
But this old building, erection date unknown, is an important part of the history of many Milam county Hispanics as it served as a schoolhouse for a number of them during the first half of this century.
Today, through the help of Zeke Silva and others in the Talbott Ridge area, the building is enjoying many improvements and may get a historical marker in the future.
Silva started a fund and put the paperwork together to begin an organization called “International Hall—La Escuelita,” also the name of the building. His wife, Carmen, attended the school as well.

COMING TO AMERICA—

Talbott Ridge, an area east of town, was a land rich with large coal deposits. Many mines were opened and workers were sought. A number of Mexican nationals, looking to escape the horrors of the Mexican Revolution, moved to the area and began working in these mines.
Carmen Ruiz can’t remember coming to the area in 1919 from Saltillo, Coahuila in Mexico (she was two years old), but she remembers attending school in the small building—also called “La Escuelita”—the little school.
“We really had a good time on the old school ground,” Ruiz remembers. “I went here until the sixth grade, then transferred to RHS.”
In 1938, Mexican-American children were admitted into the Rockdale school district. Before that, though, segregation was such that the Mexican families in the area had to send their children to the one-room school building.
“We had a teacher named Grace Bishop from Cameron who couldn’t speak Spanish,” Ruiz said. “But she did a good job with us kids, many who could speak no English.”
Rockdale resident Domingo Juarez also remembers the difficulty with the language barrier at the schoolhouse. “We would learn English in class, but then as soon as we went outside for recess, we’d start talking in Spanish again,” he said. “And, of course, our families spoke Spanish at home.”
Juarez, along with his brother Senorino, whose family came to the area in 1914, attended the school until 1937.

LA HISTORIA—

The International Hall still houses the same benches that were used in the school. Each of the grey, wooden benches is painted with stenciled, red-lettered designations like Weems Super Mkt., M&T Grocery and Coffield Lumber Co.—names of Rockdale business sponsors long since past.
The building’s windows keep a light breeze passing through, helped along by an electric fan. The fire place to keep the kids warm during the winter was covered up years ago, but the chimney is still visible. The creaky floor has vinyl covering that is stripping away.
Most Mexican families whose fathers worked the mines lived in an area called “la reculta,” which was recruitment. The long days in these fertile mines were awarded with small paychecks to these immigrant men.
Ruiz still has her father’s paystub from 1928 from the Sparks Lingine Co. in which nine days in the mine brought $22.50.
“The families worked hard,” recalls Ruiz. “Many of the women worked as domestics. Ruiz herself made 35 cents a day working sunup to sundown. “And we were glad to get that, too,” her husband John added.
Maria “Mata” Flores attended the school and remembers the dog days of the hot, cramped room. “Oh, yeah, it was hot,” she said with a laugh. “We had to drink out of a barrel, and some of the boys would bring. There was no air conditioning.”