К 150-летию Prairie View A&M: новый проект раскрывает забытую историю борьбы за права и образование

As it turns 150, Prairie View A&M deserves its flowers. A new production illustrates why. Prairie View A&M University doesn't get the accolades it deserves. Location may have something to do with it. The historically Black university sits on the rural outskirts of Houston along U.S. Highway 290 in Waller County, on land that was once the Alta Vista Plantation. But what began as the Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth has spent the past 150 years educating and nurturing leaders in Houston and across the country. A newsletter for a city that's never simple Prairie View is the state's oldest public HBCU and its second-oldest higher-learning institution. It's not simply resilience that has carried Prairie View this far. It's a history steeped in an unwavering commitment to education, activism and community. That legacy is at the heart of "Dear Prairie View," a dance, visual art and spoken word production created by former Prairie View student Harrison Guy, founder of the Houston-based Urban Souls Dance Company. Commissioned by Performing Arts Houston, it celebrates Prairie View's 150 years and introduces audiences to the university's rich and often overlooked history. Performances will be Friday and Saturday at Wortham Center. Guy calls it his love letter to the university. "I attended three years and didn't graduate, but I've remained connected the university. I found my purpose in dance on campus. When you find your purpose somewhere and it gives you your voice, you feel indebted to it." Guy spent many hours combing through the Prairie View archives and historical files at the university and at the African American Library at the Gregory School in Houston to absorb the stories of leadership and activism. He conducted similar research for his 2024 production, "Colored Carnegie" about Houston's first public Black library. Prairie View, the first public college for Black students in Texas, was founded in 1876 after the death of its owner, a Confederate Army colonel. Dan Patrick wants to punish schools over books. Seriously? It opened with eight Black students who are remembered today as the "Unknown Eight" since their identities are not known. There is something profound that happened on the land. The fields that once were a symbol of brutal forced labor with no opportunity for education were literally transformed into classrooms. Guy said transformation is a key to Prairie View's story, and its role in the nation's activism and fight for equality. In Houston, the story of Texas Southern University's activism and protests against segregation are relatively well-known. But many people may not know that Prairie View students fought for their voting rights in the 1970s when Waller County denied them ballots because they were not technically residents of Prairie View, Texas. The students sued, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor. So when college students vote in the communities where they attend school, the story of how Prairie View students were on the front lines of that fight needs to be told. "You have all this kind of activism and energy that's churning at the school. So I'm connecting the irony of the school being on an old plantation and that energy in the soil that also allows these students to be empowered to stand up," Guy said. SUMMER BLUES: Is Houston still family-friendly? Only if you can afford it. Guy said he discovered a remarkable connection between the university and one of the defining figures of the civil rights movement. In March 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis supporting striking sanitation workers. The Prairie View A&M A Cappella Concert Choir was staying in Memphis. The choir's director arranged for the students to perform for King. They sang for him at the Lorraine Motel, where they were staying - the same motel where King was assassinated just weeks later. Guy said he ends the production with a celebration of HBCU culture - the marching bands, the Greek-letter fraternity and sororities and the camaraderie that bonds students and alumni. "I want people to know the full story of Prairie View and its the legacy of activism," Guy said. The history is complicated. The legacy is immense. And Prairie View A&M University deserves to be honored for both. Subscribe There's more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢. This article originally published at As it turns 150, Prairie View A&M deserves its flowers. A new production illustrates why..