Melissa Dotson Betts

Melissa Dotson Betts was born in 1902 in Giddings, Texas. In 1918, when she was 16, Betts enrolled at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, located near the Louisiana–Arkansas border. She graduated in 1923 with a major in education and two minors: history and political science. After she earned her degree, she moved back to her home county and took a principalship position with the Fedor #2 School District at Hill's Point from 1923-1925. From 1925-1926 she moved to Douglas Chapel in Smithland, Marion County near Wiley College. Betts worked for the Lodi School District in Marion County from 1926-1928.

Betts moved to San Benito, Texas with her husband Everett Betts around 1928. Her husband, Mr. Betts, owned a motel that served as a bus stop. Mr. Betts also ran a barbeque restaurant.

In 1928 Betts filled out an application for a teacher position for the San Benito School District, where she taught from 1928-1934. She then taught for the Brownsville Independent School District the following year, from 1934-1935.

In the Fall of 1935, Betts started what turned out to be a 32 year teaching career at the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District (ECISD) in Hidalgo county Texas. She was assigned to be a teacher at the Norman E.W. School, which was known as the school for African American children. The school was named after three African American families, Norman, Edwards, and West. Segregation laws in the South did not allow black students to enroll in public schools. The school was opened in 1930 by Pastor John B. Norman, who started to hold classes for the black children in the community at Valley Baptist Church. A small one room school was built near the alley behind the church. This was the building Melissa Betts taught her students. By 1938 the school joined the ECISD and became accredited.

On September 1, 1938 Betts received her permanent teacher certification. On September 15 of that same year, Betts registered at the office of the County Superintendent of Public Instruction for Hidalgo County, Texas. In October 1938, she became a teacher at the only school for black children, the segregated George Washington Carver School, the one room school building behind the alley of the Valley Baptist church. She remained at this campus for the next 23 years.

In 1956, she received her Master of Education degree from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. Betts was given the title "head teacher".

In the middle of Betts teaching career Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 Supreme Court decision unanimously decided that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. It took several years for the law to be enforced. Betts continued to be the head teacher at George Washington Carver School until 1961. She was promoted to an administrative position the following year. From 1962-1965, she taught at Edinburg High School. The last five years of her teaching career were spent at Austin Elementary School from 1965-1970.

On August 28, 1999, ECISD honored Betts' contributions to the education system in the Rio Grande Valley by naming Melissa Dotson Betts Elementary School after her, located in Edinburg, Texas. It was the first school in the Rio Grande Valley to be named after an African American.

References

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