SCHOOL DAYS: Lyndon
B.Johnson and his fifth, sixth and seventh grade classes. This image is on display in the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum, the LBJ Museum in San Marcos, and in the Brush Country Museum in Cotulla.
University) in San Marcos, just 50 miles down the road. Worth a stop in San Marcos is the LBJ Museum (131 N. Guadalupe), dedicated to Johnson’s formative years and the great impact of his experiences as a college student and school- teacher. Among the items on exhibit is the desk that he used in his student days and returned to use once again when he signed the Higher Education Act into law in 1965.
In 1928, Johnson was assigned to teach at the recently constructed Welhausen School in Cotulla, now down Interstate 35 roughly 138 miles south from San Marcos. At the time, Cotulla was worlds away. A photograph of Johnson with his class of Mexican-American students remains a visual measure of the great cultural and socioeconomic distance that Johnson traveled. Many students were in desperate need of educational resources, as their parents were migrant farm workers. Although the building is no longer in use as a school, it’s worth the time to drive by the Welhausen School (204 NE Lane St.). Brush Country Museum (201 South Stewart St.) includes exhibits on the Welhausen School and LBJ’s time in Cotulla.
Brush Country Museum
201 South Stewart Street, Cotulla, Texas 78014
HOURS
Tuesday and Thursday 10 am – 12 pm, 2 – 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 1 – 4 pm
Free Admission
Lyndon B. Johnson taught school early in his career. Reared in a small town by a family of lim- ited means himself, this experience helped shape his thinking about education, especially the needs for rural, small town and minority popu- lations. When he returned to Cotulla as president in 1966, he spoke eloquently about the country’s need to encourage minority students to obtain as much education as possible for their children. At
ADDRESS
the time he spoke, he shared the statistic that 53 percent of Mexican-Americans had less than eight years of schooling. The situation improved significantly since President Johnson and other leaders chose to focus more resources on educa- tion. Now, more than 68 percent of Hispanics have at least a high school education, according to the most recent census figures.
Brush Country Museum is sponsored by the La Salle County Historical Commission. Over the years, it has grown from the original one-room schoolhouse building donated by the Cotulla Independent School District to include a house donated by Gladys “Beanie” McMahon Porter for the purposes of a more substantial museum. The schoolhouse has been completely
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renovated and contains many pictures, displays and artifacts from La Salle County and the Brush Country.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum Also worth a stop is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum in San Marcos, which is dedicated to President Johnson’s formative years and how his early experiences as a college student and school-
teacher impacted the landmark legislation passed during his presidency.
ADDRESS
131 N. Guadalupe San Marcos, TX 78666
HOURS
Thursday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
Free Admission
COURTESY OF LBJ LIBRARY AND PRESIDENT MUSEUM PHOTO ARCHIVE
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