How Dr. Hightower Theodore Kealing Reshaped East Austin’s Education

Words by Sean Saldana Photo from University of North Texas Libraries

Hightower Theodore Kealing was an educator, an author, and one of Austin’s most influential Black leaders in the late 19th century. Born in 1859, his birth predates the abolition of slavery, making Dr. Kealing among the first Black Americans in U.S. history to attend school.

After completing high school in Austin, Kealing enrolled in Straight University in New Orleans, one of Louisiana’s first colleges founded specifically with the purpose of educating former slaves. While still in New Orleans, he made a decision that would fundamentally reshape his life.

In 1875, Kealing became a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), where he was deeply committed to improving the conditions of Black Americans establishing their communities after slavery.

After graduating from Straight University, Kealing relocated to Iowa to continue his education at Tabor College where he graduated in 1881, officially making him Dr. Kealing. It was at this point when Dr. Kealing returned to Central Texas to head up the recently-established Paul Quinn College, a university founded by AMEC with a purpose to educate freed men and their families. As the oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi River and the nation’s first urban work college, they became instrumental in Black American education to which Dr. Kealing played a crucial role.

After serving as president of Paul Quinn College, Dr. Kealing moved back to Austin to undertake his greatest challenge yet: laying the groundwork for Austin’s Black school system. Dr. Kealing moved to East Austin in 1884 to lead Austin’s first Black elementary school, Robertson Hill School located at the corner of 11th and San Marcos streets. Five years later, when Robertson Hill School added a high school, Dr. Kealing was appointed as its first principal. Robertson Hill School would go on to become the historic Old Anderson High.

In the early 1890s, Dr. Kealing stepped down from his roles in Austin’s education system to take on a larger role with AMEC once again. And in 1896, he was appointed editor of the A.M.E. Church Review, a quarterly publication still operating today that features “articles, book lists, reflections, sermons, and lectures” related to AMEC.

At the same time, he also began to write books and establish himself as a prolific author. One of Dr. Kealing’s essays, The Characteristics of the Negro People, was published in a book alongside other contributors like Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Over the years, Dr. Kealing’s legacy has been largely forgotten, and many records documenting his impact have been lost to history. However, a monument to his accomplishments is still on display at 1607 Pennsylvania Avenue, the current location of Kealing Middle School.

In 1930, 12 years after Dr. Kealing’s passing, the Austin school district opened Kealing Junior High, the city’s first junior high for Black students. Dr. Kealing’s role in Austin’s history may be forever obscured, but at the very least, his name is literally etched in stone at the heart of the community he served.

Did You Know?
Founded in the 1800s to escape racial discrimination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church became home to many freed slaves. Today, the church is still active and has more than two million members.