Black Texans Who Shaped America Are Immortalized in This Powerful Capitol Monument

The Texas African American History Memorial

Standing tall on Texas Capitol grounds since 2016, the Texas African American History Memorial tells a story 400 years in the making.

From slavery to freedom, struggle to triumph, this bronze monument captures the spirit of Black Texans who shaped the Lone Star State.

Here’s the journey that shaped Texas’s groundbreaking memorial.

A Monument Four Centuries in the Making

The Texas African American History Memorial stands on the southwest grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

It honors the contributions Black Texans have made since the 1500s.

Sculptor Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, created this striking bronze and granite monument. It reaches 27 feet high and spans 32 feet wide.

The memorial cost $3 million.

The state legislature approved $1.5 million in 2015. Bill Jones, chairman of the Texas African American History Memorial Foundation, raised the rest through donations.

Rep. Helen Giddings, who led the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, fought hard to get the project approved. Workers installed the monument on September 27, 2016.

Officials unveiled it less than two months later on November 19. The memorial was the last monument placed on the South Capitol grounds under current law.

It now stands as a powerful reminder of Black Texans’ struggles and triumphs.

Estevanico’s Footsteps on Texas Soil

In 1528, a man from Morocco named Estevanico became the first documented Black person to walk on Texas soil.

His arrival marks the beginning of African American history in the Lone Star State.

Born around 1500 in Azemmour, Morocco, Estevanico joined the Narváez expedition after being baptized as a Christian.

He served Spanish explorer Andrés Dorantes de Carranza as his personal servant.

The expedition left Spain in 1527 with about 300 men. Their ships wrecked near Galveston Island on November 6, 1528. Estevanico was one of the few survivors.

Local Coahuiltecan Indians captured and enslaved him for six years. He escaped in 1534 along with Dorantes, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and Alonso del Castillo.

For eight years, the four men traveled across Texas and the Southwest.

Estevanico learned Native languages and developed healing practices that helped the group survive their incredible journey.

From Freedom to Bondage in Spanish Texas

During Spain’s rule of Texas from 1716 to 1821, both enslaved and free Black people lived in the territory.

Records from 1792 show 34 Black and 414 mixed-race residents. Spanish law offered some protections that American slave states didn’t.

The practice of “coartación” let enslaved people buy their freedom gradually. Spain also recognized slave marriages as legal.

Free Black men served in the Spanish colonial militia as early as the 1750s. Some owned property and ran businesses in frontier towns.

Everything changed when Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. Mexico abolished slavery on September 15, 1829, through the Guerrero Decree.

But Stephen F. Austin successfully argued for an exemption for Anglo settlers.

By 1830, the Mexican government banned further U.S. immigration partly to stop slavery’s spread.

The memorial shows this period through scenes of daily life, revealing how Black Texans helped build early settlements while keeping elements of their African heritage alive.

The Dramatic Rise of Slavery in Independent Texas

When Texas declared independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, the new Republic quickly protected slavery.

Its Constitution specifically allowed slavery and banned free Blacks from living in Texas without special permission. In 1836, about 5,000 enslaved people lived in Texas.

By 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, that number had exploded to over 182,500—nearly one-third of the state’s 604,215 residents.

Slave owners from southern states moved to Texas in droves.

They brought thousands of enslaved people to work cotton plantations, build the state capitol, cut timber, and create roads.

Cotton production skyrocketed from 58,000 bales in 1849 to 431,645 bales by 1859.

In the brutal Texas slave market, human beings sold for $500 to $1,500 based on age, skills, and physical condition.

When Texas joined the United States in 1845, it entered as a slave state. This further strengthened an institution that would continue for twenty more years until Juneteenth.

Black Texans Who Fought for Their Freedom

African Americans played important roles in Texas military history, though their contributions were often hidden.

The memorial brings these forgotten soldiers back into the spotlight.

During the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836, free Black Texans like Hendrick Arnold served alongside white Texans.

Arnold worked as a scout at the Battle of San Antonio in December 1835. At least 50 Black Texans fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.

This battle secured Texas independence from Mexico. When the Civil War began in 1861, thousands of enslaved Texans escaped to freedom.

About 47,000 to 65,000 fled to Mexico between 1836 and 1865. At least 2,500 Black men from Texas joined the Union Army.

The Texas-born Milton Holland escaped slavery to fight for the Union. He later earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in battle.

Near the Texas border, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers Infantry Regiment fought in what is now Oklahoma.

The Day Freedom Finally Came

June 19, 1865—known as “Juneteenth”—marks the day when freedom finally reached Texas’s enslaved people.

This historic moment forms the centerpiece of the memorial. On that Monday, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with 2,000 federal troops.

From Ashton Villa, a stately home, he issued General Order No. 3.

The order began: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.

This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves.”

This announcement came two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and more than two months after the Civil War ended.

For 250,000 enslaved Texans, Juneteenth was their long-delayed freedom day. The first Juneteenth celebration took place in 1866, just one year later.

In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday. President Biden made it a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

Buffalo Soldiers Defending the Texas Frontier

After the Civil War, Congress created six all-Black regiments in 1866.

Four of these—the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry—became known as “Buffalo Soldiers” and served across Texas from 1867 to 1898.

Native Americans gave them this nickname because their dark, curly hair reminded them of buffalo fur. The soldiers took pride in this name and used the buffalo as their symbol.

Buffalo Soldiers served at many Texas forts, including Fort Davis, Fort Concho, Fort McKavett, Fort Stockton, Fort Clark, and Fort Bliss.

They mapped over 34,000 miles of unknown territory and built more than 1,700 miles of roads.

In 1870, Sergeant Emanuel Stance of the 9th Cavalry became the first Buffalo Soldier to receive the Medal of Honor.

He rescued two kidnapped children from Apache raiders near Fort McKavett.

Henry O. Flipper, the first Black West Point graduate in 1877, served at Fort Davis until his controversial court-martial in 1881.

Despite facing racism and using inferior equipment, Buffalo Soldiers had the lowest desertion rates in the Army.

Building a State with Invisible Hands

Black Texans provided crucial labor that built the state’s economy after the Civil War, though their work often went unrecognized.

The memorial reveals this hidden chapter of history. By 1880, over 25,000 Black Texans worked as sharecroppers, especially in East Texas cotton fields.

Others helped build railroads, with more than 10,000 working on these dangerous but essential projects by 1890.

Some Black entrepreneurs succeeded despite intense discrimination.

William Madison McDonald created one of the largest Black-owned insurance companies in Texas in 1912.

Norris Wright Cuney controlled the Galveston docks and became the most powerful Black Republican in Texas during the 1880s.

By 1920, Black longshoremen made up most of the workforce at the Houston Ship Channel.

In the oil industry, Black wildcatter Charlie Hooks discovered the Juneteenth Oil Field near Liberty, Texas in 1953.

It was one of the few oil properties owned by an African American during the Texas oil boom.

When Black Cowboys Ruled the Range

Most people don’t realize that one in four cowboys were Black.

About 5,000 to 8,000 Black cowboys worked on Texas ranches after the Civil War, making vital contributions to the cattle industry.

Jim Perry of Fort Griffin made the first cattle drive to Kansas after the Civil War. This created an important economic lifeline for Texas ranchers.

Bose Ikard made four cattle drives with Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving from 1866 to 1869. He helped establish the famous Goodnight-Loving Trail that moved Texas cattle to northern markets.

Black cowboys often got the most dangerous jobs, like breaking wild horses. Yet many succeeded through skill and determination.

Daniel Webster “80 John” Wallace started as a trail driver in 1875 and eventually owned 1,200 acres in Mitchell County.

Bill Pickett invented “bulldogging,” a technique of wrestling steers to the ground that revolutionized rodeo.

His legacy continues in today’s Black rodeo associations that keep these traditions alive.

The Battle for Equal Rights in Jim Crow Texas

After Reconstruction, Texas passed cruel Jim Crow laws to take away newly won freedoms.

The memorial shows both the harsh discrimination and the brave fight against it. Texas required segregated railroad cars in 1891.

After the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision established “separate but equal,” segregation spread to all public places.

Dallas passed residential segregation laws in 1916, and other Texas cities followed. In 1902, Texas created a poll tax requiring $1.75 to vote—about $55 in today’s money.

“White primaries” kept Black voters from meaningful participation despite the 15th Amendment. Lynchings and other violence terrorized Black communities across the state.

Despite these obstacles, resistance grew. In 1918, 150 Black citizens formed the Dallas NAACP chapter.

Black attorney William J. Durham successfully fought housing segregation in Dallas in 1947 through the Shelley v. Kraemer case.

Barbara Jordan’s Powerful Voice for Justice

The memorial honors Barbara Jordan, who broke many barriers in Texas politics.

Born on February 21, 1936, in Houston’s Fifth Ward, her powerful speaking skills and sharp legal mind made her famous nationwide.

Jordan graduated with top honors from Texas Southern University in 1956.

She earned her law degree from Boston University in 1959, then returned to Texas to practice law.

In 1966, she won election to the Texas Senate as the first Black state senator since 1883 and the first Black woman ever in that body.

During her time there, she sponsored more than 70 bills promoting equal rights.

In 1972, she became the first Black woman from a Southern state elected to Congress since 1898.

Her work on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment hearings showcased her deep commitment to the Constitution.

On July 25, 1974, she delivered her famous Watergate speech. Though diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1973, Jordan continued serving until her death in 1996.

President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.

Modern Icons Who Changed Texas Forever

The memorial concludes by honoring modern Black Texans who achieved remarkable breakthroughs. They built on the foundation laid by earlier generations.

Dr. Bernard Harris became the first African American to walk in space during a 1995 shuttle mission.

The memorial connects his space exploration to Estevanico’s exploration of Texas soil centuries earlier.

Bessie Coleman from Atlanta, Texas, broke barriers in 1921 as the first Black female pilot.

In Texas courts, Wallace B. Jefferson made history as the first African American Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court in 2004.

Houston Congressman Mickey Leland fought world hunger before his tragic death in 1989.

Ron Kirk became Dallas’s first Black mayor in 1995 and later served as U.S. Trade Representative.

Barbara Conrad, removed from a University of Texas opera production in 1957 because of her race, later became a Metropolitan Opera star.

Spring, Texas native Simone Biles won four Olympic gold medals in 2016, becoming one of history’s most decorated gymnasts.

Visiting the Texas African American History Memorial

The Texas African American History Memorial is at 100 W. 11th Street on the Texas State Capitol grounds in Austin.

Capital Metro bus routes 2, 7, and 20 stop nearby.

You can park at the Capitol Visitors Parking Garage at 1201 San Jacinto Blvd or find metered street parking in the area.

The Capitol grounds open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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