Borderzine (https://borderzine.com/category/special-projects/good-neighbor-interpreter/)
By Frances Gunn, El Paso High School —
For over a century, El Paso’s Chapter of NAACP has been advocating for the rights of its citizens. But it’s far from staying in the past, as it’s been evolving with the city. “I think just being in El Paso is unique. We’re on the border. We have other issues here that kind of make our job a little bit more interesting,” Jackeline Biddle Richard, president of El Paso NAACP Chapter said.
This list was produced as part of the 2023 High School Journalism Camp at the McCall Center. The center hosted a one-week journalism camp where El Paso high school students publlished a special edition of The Good Neighbor Interpreter, a regional newspaper that McCall Center founder Leona Ford Washington once published with news about the Black community. The El Paso History museum sponsored the camp as part of the city’s 150th anniversary this year. Henry O. Flipper – first Black graduate of West Point
Andrew Morelock – organized the first school for African Americans in this part of the country (later became the Douglass School)
Mary Webb – organized the first recreation center for African Americans in El Paso
Marshall McCall – first African-American United States Postal worker in El Paso
Olalee McCall – first African-American Principal, El Paso Independent School District
Texas Western 1966 Basketball Team – first all-Black starting line-up to win the NCAA basketball final
Jethro Hills – first African American city representative in El Paso. Donald Williams – El Paso’s first African-American Judge
Dr. Maceo C. Dailey – first director of the African American studies department at UTEP
Ouisa Davis – first Black female judge
Greg Allen – first African American police chief of the El Paso Police Department
Charles Brown – first African American student athlete to attend Texas Western College (now UTEP)
NAACP Branch #6175 – first branch of the NAACP in Texas
Maj.
