City News
Panel Reflects on Desegregation in Georgetown on Aug. 16
Five generous long-time residents of Georgetown, Douglas Benold, Harvey Miller, Birdie Shanklin, Norman Spellman, and Paulette Taylor, will share their memories about life in Georgetown during the 1950s and 1960s on Saturday, August 16 at the Georgetown Public Library. The main topic will be the school system, which until 1967 was segregated. The panel begins at at 2:00 p.m. in the Hewlett Room at the library.
Marsha Farney, who in 2007 completed her doctoral dissertation, “Promoting the Progress of Education: The History of Georgetown Public Schools, 1850-1966,” will be the moderator for the panel discussion. After the panelists respond to some specific questions, the audience will be invited to participate with questions and comments.
The library is sponsoring this event to kick off a larger oral history project focusing on Marshall-Carver and Westside Schools and the political, economic and social issues that affected desegregation. The library director hopes that the panel discussion will encourage others to volunteer to participate in recorded interviews, sharing their experiences and memories related to these subjects. Other volunteers will be needed, including persons willing to conduct interviews (training will be provided), help with the recording equipment and processes, and transcribe the recorded interviews (training will be provided). If you are interested in sharing your memories or helping preserve them, contact Eric Lashley at 512-930-3551 or epl@georgetowntx.org, or Judy Fabry at 512-930-3552 or jkf@georgetowntx.org.
Football team at Marshall-Carver High School in Georgetown circa 1962. Photo courtesy of the Williamson County Historical Museum.
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First, i would like to say that Georgetown is still segregated. And for years now i still have seen it. You have the west side of georgetown or IH-35 where it is prodominatly white, & “rich” side of town like (berry creek and Sun City and saranota.) where as the poor are which is (San Jose, quail vally, and stone hedge all on the east side of georgetown or Ih-35. me and my wife went walking and we noticed that there ar’nt as many bike and hike trails branching off far east like it does on the west side of town. and as soon as you hit near the country club rd. there is a mist spot where you can stop to rest and be sprayed by water of mist. there is even a water foutain fo a person and even one for a persons dog. But there is not a single contraption of the same sort on the east side of town (poor area) why can the city council balance out the equality of things for the people. yes the park is on the west side of town but that was by default. like i said the hike and bike trail system doesnt run off futher east like it does in the west. and why is there more development on the west side.