Page 38 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2026 - Online Magazine

LEVELLAND HISTORY

effectively as if they were new. When the court order
from Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas
was decided, segregation ended. Levelland honored the
life-changing event in 1965.

G.W. Carver School students were integrated into the
other Levelland schools. Many were surprised that
most of the Carver School students were on grade level
and able to keep up with the current curriculum. Mr.
Griffin and his staff were not surprised. They had done
an excellent job of educating their students, even with
fewer resources.

Mr. Griffin, his wife, Dorothy, and a few other Black
educators remained with Levelland I.S.D. after
segregation ended. However, most of the Black teachers
and coaches from Carver School had to find jobs
Pictured from left to right are Mrs. Dorothy
Griffin (wife), unidentified student and Ms. somewhere else. During the integration process and for
Jacqueline Griffin-Freeman (daughter). many years after, the Griffins continued their devotion
to educating children—he as an administrator, and
she as a fourth-grade teacher. Carver became an Adult
Learning Center as well as an alternative school for
During that troublesome era of segregation, Mr. Griffin high school students who had babies needing daycare.
and his staff not only taught the state-mandated
curriculum but also taught "life" lessons to the After retirement in 1991, the Griffins spent most of their
students, who likely didn’t even understand what time volunteering in his community garden, as well
segregation was. The devoted principal and his staff as through their many church activities. After a brief
were deeply conscious of the needs of the students. illness, Mr. Griffin died on Aug. 13, 1999. Their children
He led Carver School like a close-knit family with decided they could best attend to Mrs. Griffin’s needs
equitable rewards and consequences. in San Antonio, where she remained loyal to her church
there from 2002 until her death in 2022.
During times when he had to be away from the
campus, he would announce his impending absence Mr. Louis George Griffin Jr. was the epitome of a
over the intercom, reminding the students to behave well-disciplined educator who took his position and
appropriately, so there would be no additional philosophy very seriously, serving his students and
problems upon his return. community with grace and determination. Because
of his hard work, his children, as well as many of his
L.G. Griffin's students learned how he felt about the former students, went on to live educated, professional,
importance of education, and he never sugar-coated and successful lives. He made this world a better place.
his philosophy. He believed that the way Blacks His former students, colleagues, and community are
were going to succeed was through education and thankful for his life, his legacy, and his impact on the
building strong communities. He always reminded us city of Levelland.
that our strength was in community. We should not
expect handouts from Whites. He believed that the
way Black communities moved out of poverty and
oppression was to bind together and pull ourselves
up together. The first step up was to educate ourselves
and our children. He led by example—planting and
maintaining a community garden for everyone to
share.
Whenever the district adopted new textbooks, Mr.
Griffin always went down to the Levelland ISD Central
Office in his little blue Volkswagen Beetle to pick up
the old textbooks and library books for his students'
use. The Carver teachers used the old textbooks as
Sources: Jacqueline Griffin Freeman Ruby J. Brackens/rjb4/8l26

38 Lubbock Senior Link