Jimmie Tyler Brashear Elementary School and the adjoining Hampton-Illinois Branch Library represented the third joint construction program for Dallas ISD and the City of Dallas.
Bordering Kiest Park in southwest Dallas, the new school is about 89,000 square feet and is designed to accommodate 800 students. In addition to many core classrooms, the school includes a science classroom, an art room, a music room, an auditorium, an instructional technology classroom, a media center, a gymnasium, and a student dining and food service area. The school is one of 12 new schools opened to students for the 2006-2007 school year.
Biography of Jimmie Tyler Brashear
The school carries the distinction of being named for the first Dallas ISD African-American administrator, Jimmie Tyler Brashear. Brashear was born July 2, 1903, in Lexington, KY. The granddaughter of slaves, she was encouraged by her family to seek an education. Her parents, a teacher and a barber, sent Brashear to live with an aunt in Madison, Wis., so she could attend better schools in a bigger city. She took advantage of the opportunity.
In 1924, Brashear was the only African American in her graduating class at the University of Wisconsin. In the following years, she also earned two master's degrees. Early in her career, she taught at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and then at Prairie View A&M College in Texas.
Continuing as a pioneer in education, Brashear became the first African-American administrator employed by the Dallas Independent School District when she was hired in 1929. She was the only African-American female instructional supervisor in Texas for many years. Brashear built a legacy in Dallas schools that has been followed by others. By the time she retired from the Dallas ISD in 1967, the 64-year-old Brashear had served as an educator and administrator in Dallas schools for 38 years. After her retirement, she continued to teach and mentor students at Bishop College in Dallas.
Brashear was instrumental in the creation and organization of the Second Dallas Association for Childhood Education. When the first Jimmie Tyler Brashear School opened in Dallas in 1978, her friends and colleagues said, "Her professional skills as a professor of education, critic, teacher and workshop director made her a highly valued educator."
In 1997, Brashear was honored by the Texas State Senate. A resolution read on the Senate floor explained, "It is indeed fitting and appropriate that the Texas Senate join the citizens of Dallas and the Dallas Independent School District in paying tribute to Mrs. Brashear for her countless achievements and service on behalf of the school children of Texas."
Brashear died in February 1999 at the age of 95. Her daughter, Barbara Brashear Carter, remembers her mother as a strong woman and a dynamic leader. "Her professionalism and presence commanded the respect of everyone around her. She wanted everyone to strive for excellence in everything, and she invested so much in so many lives."
Biography of Jimmie Tyler Brashear 