Mansfield community remembers attempted desegregation efforts 70 years later
Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of the unsuccessful attempt to integrate Mansfield schools. The community will remember that day and reflect on what we've learned from it at an event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The evening will include performances from the Timberview High School Choir, a presentation from the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, and readings from Mansfield Independent School District students.
Aug. 30, 1956: It's a day seared into the mind of Pastor F.S. Moody, Sr. He's among a group of Black teens who attempted to integrate Mansfield schools. They were met with hate and violence. CBS News Texas spoke to Pastor Moody in 2016.
"My prayer is: those people, if they're living today, their hearts have been changed to see that there was no danger in Black folks going to school with whites. No danger," Moody said.
Seventy years ago, a mob of angry white people in Mansfield responded to the desegregation efforts by hanging three straw-stuffed and painted dummies in effigy at the school's doors. That day is known as the "Mansfield Crisis" and was part of the broader Civil Rights Movement. The police chief and mayor called in the Texas Rangers. Moody remembers the words from school leadership.
"He said, 'You people, you are not going to enroll in this school.' Seems to me the words were 'It will never happen,'" Moody said.
Mansfield schools remained segregated until 1965. The Geyer Commons now sit on the land where Mansfield High School once stood.
The Mansfield Historical Society will host "We are Mansfield United People" on Sunday evening at the Geyer Commons at 605 East Broad Street to talk about what happened on that dark day in history.
"We're also kicking off a community project, not a city project, but a community project that's been led by the Mansfield Historical Society to erect a large gazebo and a statue of children of different ethnicities holding hands so that we look at who we are today," said Thomas Leach, the president of the Mansfield Historical Society.
Leach hopes the program and reflecting on what happened 70 years ago can help us not only remember the past but also learn from it.
"If we ignore this event, as we have in this city for many decades, because we've been afraid of it, it diminishes who we are today. It has the power of that dark day. It doesn't define us. You can't erase history," Leach said.
Mansfield ISD reflects on the diversity of those who live there 70 years later as the community comes together and makes sure the history of what happened on the grounds is not forgotten.
