- Collection:
- Civil Rights in Black and Brown
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Izola Collins, July 19, 2016
- Creator:
- Enriquez, Sandra
Rodriguez, Samantha
Collins, Izola - Date of Original:
- 2016-07-19
- Subject:
- Persons
Ethnic groups
Civil rights - People:
- Collins, Izola
- Location:
- United States, Texas, Galveston County, Galveston, 29.30135, -94.7977
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
biographies (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Izola Collins was born in Galveston, Texas in 1929. Her mother's family has been on the island since the 1860s when her great grandfather, Horace Scull, moved his children and wife into the area. Her grandfather, Ralph Albert Scull, was one of the first African American teachers in Galveston. She grew up in the East End of the Island, where she believed a life of luxury although her family was poor. She attended Central High School and joined the band and learned about African American history. She left the Island in the late 1940s to attend Prairie View A&M and graduated with a degree in music. She began teaching the Bay City band, then left to Evanston to attend Northwestern where she received her Master's in music in 1953. Collins returned to Galveston and taught music at different schools in the area (Hitchcock) and at Goliad and Stephen F. Austin schools. She became celebrated as her students represented Galveston in different state competitions. In 1986, she ran for the board of the Galveston Independent School District and won. Collins served for 9 years and became president of the board during her last term. She has been recently involved in the preservation of African American history on the Island and wrote a book Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started chronicling the histories of African Americans in Galveston. Collins also discusses the role of the Reedy Chapel, the first AME Church in the state of Texas.
- Metadata URL:
- https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987533/
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- 9 video recordings (1 hr., 54 min., 11 sec.) : sd., col.
- Contributing Institution:
- University of North Texas. Libraries
- Rights:
-
