Prairie View, Texas

Everything Prairie View is known for

4 songs mention this city 3 artists from here

Music in Prairie View

Songs About Prairie View

They Don’t Know (Remix)
Paul Wall
92%
"At Texas Southern or Prairie View"
They Don’t Know
Paul Wall
52%
"At Texas Southern or Prairie View"
TSU
Drake
5%
"Marshall, Prairie View, it's going down"
I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
1%
"Prairie View"

Artists From Prairie View

D
DJ Premier
hip-hop
K
Kirko Bangz
hip-hop
W
Walter Booker
jazz

Rivers & Roads in Song near Prairie View

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Prairie View.

Brazos River 42 songs US Route 90 9 songs Interstate 10 36 songs Interstate 45 8 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs

Musical Heritage

The Prairie View Co-eds - Prairie View A&M RoadyGoat

During World War II, Prairie View A&M was home to one of the most popular all-female big bands in America: the Prairie View Co-eds. With more and more men drafted into the armed forces, band director Will Henry Bennett built a swing orchestra from the women on campus. The Co-eds toured much of the year, performed USO shows, and played a 1944 engagement at New York's Apollo Theater. Trumpeter Clora Bryant, who joined the band as a Prairie View student, went on to become a celebrated jazz trumpeter on the West Coast. The university's archives preserve the band's music collection today.

History of Prairie View

From Plantation to University RoadyGoat

The ground beneath Prairie View tells a profound American story. Before there was a university here, this land was the Alta Vista Plantation, a 1,400-acre cotton and corn farm worked by enslaved people. After the Civil War and Emancipation, the state of Texas, under the federal Morrill Act, was required to establish a college for its Black citizens. In a turn of history that feels almost poetic, the state purchased the former plantation in 1876 to be the site of this new school. The first eight students who arrived for class in 1878 were young Black men, studying on the very same soil their ancestors may have been forced to work. The plantation house became the first dormitory. It’s an incredible transformation: a site of bondage reborn as a beacon of education and hope, a legacy that defines the university and the town to this day.

RoadyGoat →

The Formerly Enslaved Man Who Founded a College RoadyGoat

Prairie View A&M University exists because of the vision and political skill of one remarkable man: William H. Holland. Born a slave in Marshall in 1841, Holland seized the opportunity for education after Emancipation, eventually becoming a teacher and a respected community leader. In 1876 — with Reconstruction already over and Redeemers back in control — he won election to the Fifteenth Legislature as the representative from Waller County. There, he made it his mission to see the state fulfill its obligation to create a college for African Americans. He sponsored the bill, worked his white colleagues, and pushed it through that same year. He wasn't just a politician; he was a founder, and he later won a state school for deaf, mute and blind Black children and became its first superintendent. When you look at the sprawling campus of Prairie View A&M, remember it started with the tireless work of a man born into slavery who rose to build an institution that would educate generations.

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Prairie View, TX RoadyGoat

Prairie View is, at its heart, a university town. But more than that, it’s a place where education itself is almost a crop, carefully cultivated and deeply rooted in the land. You see, Prairie View A&M wasn't just another college popping up; it was born out of necessity after the Civil War, a place where newly freed African Americans could access education when almost every other door was slammed shut. The state designated it as the first state-supported college for Black Texans in 1876, and from that moment on, the town and the institution became inextricably linked. Even the land seems to support this mission. This area, characterized by its post oak savanna, might not be ideal for sprawling farms like you find elsewhere in Texas, but it’s solid, dependable ground. It's seen its share of hardship too, like the devastating floods that sometimes surge through the Brazos River valley nearby. But just as those floods recede, leaving the soil enriched, Prairie View has always found a way to rebuild and strengthen its commitment to education. The university’s presence radiates outwards, shaping the local economy, the culture, and the very identity of the town. You can feel it in the air during the Labor Day Classic, a football game that brings everyone together, a celebration of community and the enduring legacy of Prairie View A&M.

Bland, Sandra Annette [Sandy]

2015

Sandra Annette "Sandy" Bland, an African American social activist whose death in police custody sparked national momentum for the Black Lives Matter movement, was born on February 7, 1987, in Naperville, Illinois. Raised by her single mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland was the fourth of five daughters. As a child, she was active in the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle, Illinois, and around the age of ten she started playing the trombone. In 2005 Bland graduated from Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois, and earned a marching band scholarship to attend Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black institution in Prairie View, Texas. Bland studied agriculture and had the goal of becoming an inspector for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While earning her degree, she became a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, a historically Black Greek-letter organization. In 2009 she graduated with a bachelor's of science degree in agriculture. Bland lived in Houston before moving back to Illinois in 2012. In January 2015 she started a video blog series on her social media account titled "Sandy Speaks." She used this platform to discuss a number of topics, including police brutality, inattentive parents, and mental health. Later in the year, on July 9, Bland returned to Texas for a job interview at Prairie View A&M and was hired as a community outreach coordinator. She was to begin her new job on August 3. Arrest and Death On July 10 Bland returned to Prairie View A&M to fill out some paperwork. As she drove away from the university, she was followed by Brian Encinia, a White state trooper, who eventually pulled her over on University Drive for changing lanes without signaling. Dashcam footage from the trooper's vehicle showed Encinia ordering Bland to extinguish her cigarette. After she refused to do so, he then ordered her to exit her vehicle. Bland challenged Encinia's authority to order her to do so, at which point Encinia attempted to physically pull Bland from her vehicle and then drew his Taser gun. Bland exited her car and was led out of view of the dashcam. She was forced to the ground and handcuffed before being taken to the Waller County jail in Hempstead, Texas, and jailed on suspicion of felony assault on a public servant-Encinia wrote in his arrest affidavit that Bland had kicked him. Despite informing police during booking that she had previously attempted suicide, Bland was not placed under observation and assigned to an isolated cell. Her bail was set at $5,000. During the following days, she made several phones calls from jail to friends and family as efforts were made to raise the money to post her bail. On July 13, 2015, police reported that Sandra Bland had used a plastic garbage bag to hang herself in her cell. Following an autopsy, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science concluded that her death was a suicide. This judgment was quickly challenged by Bland's friends and family, who insisted that Bland was not suicidal and called for an independent autopsy. Impact of Death and Legal Consequences Bland's death came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and heightened scrutiny of police violence towards African Americans. Her death sparked a series of demonstrations throughout the United States, including Hempstead, Texas, where Black Lives Matter protesters and armed members of the New Black Panther party gathered outside the Waller County jail. Her death galvanized the #SayHerName movement, which addresses police violence against Black women. Bland's funeral was held at DuPage AME Church in Lisle, Illinois, and she was buried at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens in Hickory Hills, Illinois. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) placed Trooper Encinia on administrative duty for violating protocol for traffic stops, and a joint investigation into Bland's death was launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Rangers , the investigative arm of the DPS.

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Jacob E. Freeman

1841

In response to the political, social and economic turmoil in Texas and the South after the Civil War, the federal government enacted the Reconstruction Act on March 2, 1867. Many local and state officials were removed from office and a constitutional convention convened in 1868 with ten African Americans elected to serve. The 12th Legislature met in 1870-1871 and was composed of 14 elected African American members. Amid struggles and violence, African American legislators continued to serve Texas. Among them was Jacob E. Freeman who served as a representative from Waller, Fort Bend and Wharton counties. Freeman was born a slave in Alabama around 1841 and came to Texas when he was eleven. He assisted his master in the Confederate army during the Civil War and, by 1873, was a mechanic in the Hempstead area and had served on a Waller County grand jury. In July 1873, Freeman served on the Colored Men’s Convention where attendees discussed political, civic and economic rights of minorities. As a member of the Republican Party, Freeman won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 1874 for the 14th Legislature where he served on the Penitentiary Committee. He was again elected to the 16th Legislature in 1879. In 1878, Freeman campaigned for the Greenback Party candidate for Governor, unsuccessfully ran for the Legislature as a People’s Party candidate in 1886 and campaigned for a gubernatorial candidate in 1892. Jacob E. Freeman and other 19th century African American legislators helped safeguard the rights of Texas and its Black citizens against tremendous odds and a sometimes hostile political climate. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011

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Prairie View, TX (Waller County)

1876

Prairie View is on U.S. Highway 290 and the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, between Hempstead and Waller in north central Waller County. It traces its roots to Alta Vista, the plantation home of Jared E. and Helen Marr (Swearingen) Kirby . Alta Vista was one of four plantations and several small farms owned by the Kirbys in the vicinity of Best and Iron creeks, and at one time claimed a population of 400 slaves. Kirby was a colonel in the Confederate Army, and his home was Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith 's headquarters during the later phases of the Civil War . When her husband died soon after the war, Mrs. Kirby was left in debt. In 1867 she transformed the mansion into a boarding school for young ladies called Alta Vista Institute; when she moved the school to Austin in 1876 she sold Alta Vista to the state of Texas. That year the Fifteenth Legislature established the first public institution of higher learning for Blacks in Texas, to be located on the former Kirby plantation. The new agricultural and mechanical training school opened in March 1878 with only eight students, who did not remain long. In April 1879 an act of the state legislature established Prairie View Normal and Industrial Training School (now Prairie View A&M University) to extend broader educational opportunities to Black youth. It opened on October 6, 1879, with sixteen students, and flourished. In 1892 the first post office in Prairie View was established by Duncan D. Robertson in his home, which also served as a general store for the area's Black college students and for White farmers and stock raisers. The population at this time was reported as 300. The post office was discontinued in 1938, but in 1988 mail still came to a branch office in the Prairie View A&M student center, via the Hempstead post office. The presence of an academic institution contributed as significantly to the area's growth as did agriculture. In the late 1980s the town remained both a college and agricultural community. It got its water from the Prairie View A&M University water system and was dependent upon the university for fire protection, ambulance service, and medical service. Local farmers produce corn, melons, and other commercial crops and benefit from the expertise available from the school's agricultural department. Prairie View citizens voted to incorporate in the spring of 1969, electing W. D. Thompson as their first mayor. The City News , published twice a month, began publication in July of that year. The town had six churches, retail businesses, the Waller ISD Junior High School, and a bus station. Prairie View is also home to St. Francis Episcopal Church, established in 1870. The church was originally located in Hempstead and was moved to its present location in 1958. The population of Prairie View was 4,129 in 1980 and 4,004 in 1990. By 2000 the population was 4,410.

Tsha Handbook →

Waller, Edwin

1835

Plantation Home of Edwin Waller (1800-1883). Member of the consultation in 1835. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. First mayor of the City of Austin. Member of the Secession Convention in 1861. On this property, acquired during the Republic, he resided from 1846 for many years.

Historical Marker → · 4.2 mi away

Prairie View A&M University

1876

Authorized by the Texas legislature in 1876, the "Agricultural and Mechanical College for Colored Youth" was Texas' second state-supported institution of higher learning. As a land grant college, it occupied a 1434-acre former slave plantation. Organized by the Texas A&M Board of Directors, Prairie View has remained a part of the Texas A&M system. The first eight students enrolled on March 11, 1878, but low enrollment caused the school to close. The following year the "Prairie View Normal Institute" was organized with emphasis on preparing teachers in trade and agricultural subjects. A coeducational college, Prairie View's enrollment of 16 soon reached 60. In ten years, industrial training was added to the curriculum. Intercollegiate athletics began in 1904. By 1931 the campus boasted 31 main buildings and 50 cottages. In 1934 the Southern Association of Schools granted a class "A" rating. In 1947 the institution became "Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College". Integrated during the 1960s, the name changed to "Prairie View A&M University" in 1973. The University's motto is "Prairie View produces productive people".

Historical Marker →

Banks, Willette Rutherford

1915

Willette Rutherford (Scrap) Banks, teacher and university administrator, was born on August 8, 1881, in Hartwell, Georgia, the second of thirteen children of J. M. and Laura Banks. J. M. Banks was a Georgia populist and founder of the Colored Zion Elementary School at Hartwell, which Willette attended as a youth. The younger Banks attended Atlanta University, where he met the two most abiding influences on his life-W. E. B. DuBois, his role model, and Glovina Virginia Perry, his wife and cultural mentor. When Banks graduated in 1909, President E. T. Ware of Atlanta University recommended him for a teaching position at Fort Valley Normal and Industrial Institute in Georgia, and later, in 1912, for a principalship at Kowiliga Community School in Elmore County, Alabama. Colored Methodist Episcopal Church bishop R. A. Carter offered Banks the presidency of Texas College at Tyler in May 1915. At the end of his tenure in 1926 Banks had recruited the second largest student body in a Texas Black college and had gained a reputation as a builder and as a master of the difficult craft of financing church-related education. As principal at Prairie View A&M College (now Prairie View A&M University , a part of the Texas A&M University System), Banks was challenged by the opportunity to test his skill at running a minority institution governed by Whites. He welcomed the reputed "unsavory" post as a "divine call." As an administrator he used the "North-South pivot," a combination of support from private philanthropy with the assistance of the state Interscholastic League of Colored Schools and the federal extension service, to achieve many of his goals, including the construction of new buildings on the campus. In the spring of 1930 he revived the idea of DuBois's Atlanta Conferences. With the aid of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools and the General Education Board, Banks founded an ongoing Texas "Educational Conference." In the late 1930s he came under criticism from the leaders of Black denominational colleges and White liberals for supporting the establishment of a graduate school at Prairie View. His opponents supported out-of-state aid for Black students to attend schools in the North and emphasized the need of state Black colleges to strengthen their undergraduate programs before expanding. Texas A&M president Walton, however, concerned that out-of-state aid was too heavily tainted by the desire to keep Blacks from applying to White institutions, wanted to set up a "separate but equal" graduate school for Blacks in Texas. Walton offered Banks a two-year fund of $9,000 a year to start the school. Banks opened his graduate school in June 1938 with thirty-five students and E. M. Morris as dean. By Banks's rationale, he had settled all doubts at Texas A&M about his public acceptance of segregation. In 1938 the United States Supreme Court outlawed out-of-state aid and regional Black schools in Lloyd Gaines v. University of Missouri . As a result, the leaders of state-supported Black colleges soon began accepting money for graduate programs, as Banks had done. During World War II Banks was influenced by wartime race riots, by Gunnar Myrdal's American Dilemma (1944) and Rayford Logan's What the Negro Wants (1944), by the Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright (1944), and by W. E. B. DuBois's call for Black colleges to devise methods to emancipate Blacks through cooperative research. Banks successfully used his "North-South pivot" to influence the Forty-ninth Texas Legislature, which authorized the Texas A&M board to establish courses at Prairie View in law, engineering, pharmacy, and journalism. The courses were to be "substantially equivalent" to those offered at the University of Texas. Banks thus defeated the faction led by Joseph J. Rhoads , president of Bishop College, which favored a new state-supported liberal arts college for Blacks. Banks then went over the heads of Texas A&M officials, who failed to back the legi

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Things to Do in Prairie View

quirky 21.2 mi away
The Blues Capital of Texas

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The Explorer Who Died Lost

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The Underground City Beneath the Streets

After fires ravaged Brenham three times in a decade the town did something no other Texas city had attempted. They built twenty-seven underground cisterns…
historical 17.4 mi away
Tomball ISD Stadium

A $35 million high school football cathedral — because in Texas the stadium is the town square. Friday night lights at their finest.
quirky 21.2 mi away
The Town Under Six Flags

Navasota sits near Washington-on-the-Brazos where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed and that location gives it a claim few towns can match. All…
historical 21.2 mi away
The Night the Cotton Burned

In 1865 the Civil War was over but the chaos was not. A warehouse in Navasota packed with cotton bales and gunpowder exploded after Confederate veterans angry…
historical 21.2 mi away
The Summer Everything Died

In August 1867 yellow fever swept into Navasota and the town simply collapsed. Of three thousand residents more than half fled within days leaving the sick to…
historical 21.3 mi away
Birthplace Next Door

Just seven miles from Navasota sits Washington-on-the-Brazos where fifty-nine delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2 1836. They did…

Everything Near Prairie View

607 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Prairie View on the Map
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