Education

Education reached more students after World War II, with a striking increase in students continuing through high school. The Dallas Independent School District grew, adding dozens of new schools at all levels. Other towns established their own independent districts, including Irving, Mesquite and Garland. It was time for the county to create a better system. Over 100 small districts had been created since 1900. They had limited resources, so the county began consolidating them for better service. In 1927, the county hired its first twelve bus drivers, to bring rural children to the consolidated schools.

Racial segregation continued to be enforced throughout the county. All African American high schoolers attended centralized Booker T. Washington High School, which opened in 1922, while white students benefited from closer schools. I was not until 1939 that a second African American High School opened, Lincoln.

Dallas Historical Society