On Galveston Island lies a story that could have been forgotten if not for the efforts of local historians.
Two Black lifeguards, James Helton and Wavery Guidry, who made over 30 rescues combined between 1935 and 1957 during the Jim Crow era, will soon be recognized with a historical marker from the State of Texas.
Known as an “Undertold Marker,” it will recognize not only the 30-plus rescues the pair made during the Jim Crow era, but also the gaps in giving them credit for their service, today and in their own time.
“To document those who saved lives is the right thing to do. It’s to acknowledge they were undervalued and mistreated,” said Julie Baker, of the Galveston County Historical Commission.
Assigning lifeguards to keep Black swimmers alive, let alone getting a beach for Black swimmers at all during Jim Crow, was not an easy feat. It took community petitioning and individuals’ commitment to saving lives, even when credit for doing so was intentionally erased.
The Undertold Marker, which Texas awards to just 15 applicants across the state each year, will be mounted on a concrete base at Seawall Boulevard and 28th Street on the first day of February, which is Black History Month.
In the early 1920’s, Galveston beach was already segregated through social practice, according to research from Carol Bunch Davis, an independent scholar researching African American cultural production and Associate Professor Emerita of English at Texas A & M University at Galveston
But social segregation wasn’t enough for city leaders, Brantley Harris and A. G. Fish, who petitioned the city to completely eradicate Black swimmers from Galveston’s Seawall Beachfront, Davis wrote. The petition failed, she explained, but not because city leaders disagreed with racial segregation; they just believed White and Black swimmers were already segregated enough.
In spite of leaders’ back and forth on policing where Black beach patrons could be, Black beach patrons were able to create “places for themselves in the face of anti-Black racism, or anti-Blackness,” Davis wrote.
By the early 1950’s, two historically African beaches were in use: West Beach, known as “Black Beach,” or “Sunset Camps,” and Brown Beach, at 28th street.
There’s more, so go read the rest. I knew nothing about any of this. That bit about how the ban on Black swimmers failed because other city leaders thought the existing segregation was enough just boggles me. I found more about Helton and Guidry and the forthcoming recognition of their work here and here, and links to some of Professor Davis’ research on this topic here and here. I also wonder if the current legislative jihad against DEI means that it would be illegal to teach about this in Texas’ schools. Someone ask Sen. Brandon Creighton about that.