{"id":492,"date":"2020-07-15T20:57:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T20:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/?p=492"},"modified":"2021-08-22T15:44:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:44:27","slug":"teaching-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/teaching-in-houston\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

       \nTeaching in Houston<\/strong>\n\u2013 Last updated July 15, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following his graduation from the AIC,\nHarper accepted a position as a drawing and writing instructor with the Houston\npublic schools in Houston, Texas, where he taught for two years..[1]<\/sup><\/a>  At this time, the schools in Houston were\ndivided into white schools and \u201cColored Schools\u201d.  The Superintendent of the Independent School\nDistrict of Houston, W.W. Barnett, had actively encouraged the school board to\nhire a drawing instructor for the \u201cColored Schools\u201d, writing in the section of\nthe 1900-1901 Annual Report of the Superintendent entitled \u201cThe Colored\nSchools\u201d, that <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the coming year I hope the Board\nwill be able to secure the services of a thoroughly trained teacher of drawing\nand writing.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 4, 1901, the Houston Daily\nPost announced the appointment of Harper to such position as that drawing and\nwriting instructor for the \u201cColored Schools\u201d. \nAs noted in the previous chapter, Harper was not the first AIC graduate\nto work for the Houston public schools. \nWhen Harper arrived in Houston, he joined Blanche Williams who was\nalready the \u201cdirectress\u201d for drawing in the white public schools.  Williams had graduated from the AIC the year\nbefore Harper, and she and Harper had shared at least one class at the AIC.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Houston City Directory for the years\n1902-1903 listed Harper as \u201cHarper, William (c), director of drawing and\nwriting Houston (c) public school, bds 302 [?] Andrews\u201d.[4]<\/sup><\/a>  The designation \u201c(c)\u201d depicted race, and\n\u201cbds\u201d presumably meaning Harper was a boarder at the referenced address.  Records are not available from the individual\n\u201cColored Schools\u201d of those years, but it appears that Harper served as the\ndrawing and writing instructor for all of such Houston schools.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One article appearing in the Houston\nPost in 1901 entitled \u201cColored School Work – Teachers Held a Grade Meeting\nFriday Afternoon\u201d[5]<\/a>\ndescribed the \u201cregular monthly grade meeting\u201d of the \u201ccolored teachers in the\nintermediate department of the city schools\u201d. \nTeachers for the fourth through seventh grades were present, including\n\u201cWillliam H.[sic] Harper, instructor in writing and drawing\u201d.  The order of business included the election\nof the \u201cconductor of the grade work for the present scholastic year\u201d and the\n\u201ccomparison of progress cards for the scholastic month ending October ll.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper was clearly well received and\nwell liked.  The Houston Post reported\nthat at the July 1902 School Board meeting, the Superintendent of the school\nsystem read his report, and an <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cimportant item of the superintendent\u2019s\nreport was the recommendation that the salary of William Harper, a negro\nteacher, be raised to $75 the month. \nProf. Barnett spoke of Harper\u2019s abilities in the highest terms\u201d.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be at this time that Harper\u2019s\ntitle went from \u201cinstructor\u201d to \u201cdirector\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Harper so impressed\nSuperintendent\/Professor Barnett that he took the time to write a letter to the\nDirector of the AIC, W.M.R. French, praising Harper\u2019s work.[7]<\/sup><\/a>  Barnett\u2019s letter has not survived, but on\nAugust 28, 1902, French wrote to Harper, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have received a letter from Prof.\nBarnett expressing his satisfaction with your work.  I am highly pleased to hear of your\nsuccess.  It was, however, a matter of\ncourse with your attainments and habits. \nI think you are in a way of doing a great deal of good both\nprofessionally and socially.  We hope you\nmay some day pay us a visit.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

French then went on to discuss the\nlatest happenings at the AIC.  Given the\nnumber of students who passed through the AIC, a letter of this nature from the\nDirector is an impressive indication of the esteem with which Harper was held\nby the AIC, and the Director in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual Superintendent\u2019s Reports list\nthe salaries of teachers, including the \u201cSpecial Teachers\u201d.  For a salary comparison, Blanche Williams annual\nsalary was $540 during the 1900-1901 school year[8]<\/a>.  During the 1903-1904 school year, her annual\nsalary was $900.[9]<\/a>  Unfortunately, the Superintendent\u2019s Report\nfor the 1901-1902 and the 1902-1903 school years, those years when Harper was teaching\nin Houston, are missing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although certainly engaged with classes\nwhile teaching in Houston, Harper was nevertheless artistically busy during\nthat time period.  In early 1902, he had\nthree paintings accepted in the annual juried Exhibition\nof Works by Chicago Artists, an exhibition jointly managed by the AIC and the\nMunicipal Art League of Chicago<\/a>.  The\ncatalogue listing was as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper, William A. \u2013 Care Wm. Wendt, 224\nEast Ontario Street, Chicago[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

93. \nThe lake in the hills<\/p>\n\n\n\n

94. \nThe green of summer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

95. \nFirst sign of autumn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to note that in this catalogue,\nHarper\u2019s address for the purposes of the exhibition is listed as care of one of\nhis mentors, William Wendt.  269\npaintings from a submission of 629 were selected by the jury for the exhibition,\nincluding paintings by Charles Francis Browne and William Wendt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An article in\nthe Brush and Pencil, Vol. 9, No. 6 (Mar, 1902), an international art\nmagazine published in Chicago, reproduced Harper\u2019s painting entitled \u201cFirst\nShow [sic] of Autumn\u201d, a rare and certainly gratifying honor for a young\npainter.  <\/a>The magazine reviewed the exhibition and\nnoted that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWarm praise should be awarded\u2026 to\nWilliam A. Harper for his \u2018First Sign of Autumn\u2019 and \u2018The Lake in the Hills\u2019,\nboth of which are pleasing landscapes, replete with sentiment\u2026.\u201d[11]<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 1903, Harper again had two\npaintings granted entrance to the annual Chicago exhibition.  The catalogue listing was as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Harper,\nWilliam A. \u2013 817 San Felipe Street, Houston, Texas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            90.  Eucalyptus                       $100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            91.  The old mulberry             $100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

239 paintings from a submission of 679\nwere selected by the jury for the exhibition, including paintings by Charles\nFrancis Browne and Worthington E. Haggerman.. \nHaggerman would in 1903 study at the Academie Julian in Paris with\nHarper.  The catalogue for that\nexhibition noted that William Wendt had been elected as a member of the jury,\nbut was unable to serve as he was out of the country.  He was in fact painting in Cornwall where\nHarper would join him in in the summer of 1903.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorado Taft, an instructor at the AIC\nand one of the founders of the Eagle\u2019s Nest, stayed in touch with Harper during\nhis time in Houston, and was invited to lecture in Houston by the Houston Art\nLeague in October of 1902.[12]<\/a>  Twenty-five years later Taft would provide a\npoignant account of his visit to Houston in a letter to the Chicago Tribune:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill Harper was in his time the pride\nof the Art Institute.  This earnest\nstudent, who was obliged to work his way through the school, continually\nsurprised us by the large simplicity of his compositions and the somber\nrichness of his coloring.  Mr. Harper\nbecame a superintendent of drawing in the public schools of an important city\nof the south.  Never shall I forget an\nevening when I found myself lecturing there. \nThe great hall was filled below with the beauty and chivalry of the\nplace, while in the dimness of the gallery sat one lone, dark figure \u2013 my\nfriend Harper.  The colored teachers had\nobtained permission to attend, but through some misunderstanding were\nrepresented by him alone.  It was a\nstrange feeling that this social exile was perhaps the only one in my audience\nwho completely understood what I was trying to say.\u201d[13]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No further information is available\nabout Harper\u2019s time in Houston.  It is\nunclear whether he spent the summer between the 1901 and 1902 school years in\nHouston, but given the oppressive heat of the Houston summers before the advent\nof air conditioning, it is more than likely that he either joined his father\nand brother in Decatur, Illinois, or joined Lorado Taft and his fellow artists to\nwork again at the Eagle\u2019s Nest.  After\nthe end of the 1902-1903 school year, Harper left Houston for Europe \u2013 the\nultimate destination for all aspiring artist of the time.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Obituary,\nBulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, Vol. 4, July 1910, p. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a>Annual Report of the Public Schools of the Independent School\nDistrict of Houston 1900-1901<\/a>., p. 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, p.\n35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Houston\nCity Directory 1902 \u2013 03, p. 118.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cColored\nSchool Work.  Teachers Held a Grade\nMeeting Friday Afternoon; Houston Post (Houston, Texas), October 20, 1901, p.\n12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cSchool\nBoard Meeting\u201d, Houston Post (Houston, Texas), July 30, 1902.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> Letter\nfrom W.M.R. French to Wm. Harper dated August 28, 1902, advising of the\nfavorable report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a> Annual\nReport of the Public Schools of the Independent School District of Houston\n1900-1901.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a> Annual\nReport of the Public Schools of the Independent School District of Houston\n1903-1904.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/a> This\naddress appears to be that of the \u201cHolbein Studios\u201d and was also used by other\nartists.  See, e.g. the catalogue of the\nExhibition of Chicago Artists held at the AIC February 4 to March 1, 1908,\nlistings for Cora Freer and Frederick Freer. \nNo further information has been found, however, about such studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/a>\n\u201cWorks of Chicago Artists\u201d by Arthur Anderson Merritt in Brush and Pencil,\nVol. 9, No 6 (March 1902), pp 336-346.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/a>\nReport on meeting of the advisory board of the City Federation, Houston Post,\nMay 18, 1902, p. 33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/a>\nLetter from Lorado Taft entitled \u201cThe Work of Negro Artists\u201d, Chicago Tribune,\nNovember 17, 1927, p. 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Teaching in Houston \u2013 Last updated July 15, 2020 Following his graduation from the AIC, Harper accepted a position as a drawing and writing instructor with the Houston public schools in Houston, Texas, where he taught for two years..[1]  At this time, the schools in Houston were divided into white schools and \u201cColored Schools\u201d.  … Continue reading “Teaching in Houston”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}