Yvette Crawford grew up in Rogers Washington Holy Cross, a historic neighborhood in East Austin that was built by and for black professionals after World War Two. In this interview, Crawford discusses her memories of the neighborhood, her father and his work as the assistant attorney general for Texas, gentrification, and the significance of Rogers Washington.
“I grew up on 2103 Stafford which is on the corner of Rogers and Stafford and across the street from Campbell Elementary School. I knew almost everyone knew almost everyone in the community because that’s just the way it was at the time.
It was close knit. We knew everyone. There were functions. We’d always seen them at different functions in the city on this side of town, so it was a nice community.”
“There were a lot of African-Americans who lived in this community that were accomplished. They had made stepping stones in our community. Which means they opened doors for us, for my generation and then for your generation and my children’s generation, to the point that sky’s the limit.”
“And the president of the college basically wrote her back and told her, based on the bylaws of the school, we cannot admit any Negroes to this college. So Mrs. Smith’s father hired my father to take the case, and my father in Texas State University. And I believe in 1963, 1964, the judge decided that she had every right to be admitted to Texas State University.
So basically that opened doors for people of color to enter their school. And I believe there were three other students who went ahead and signed up to enroll at Texas State that afternoon. So, I mean, I’m proud of my father, for his accomplishments, for what he did because that’s how I was able to go to college.”
“Driving here today to do this interview, it was very hard for me to come back to this neighborhood because it’s just totally not the same. Entire East Austin has changed tremendously, and it hurts. It really hurts.
More white businesses popping up. More anglos living here who are truly now the residents of East Austin, there’s hardly any African Americans living in East Austin anymore because of affordability.”
“I’d like for [Rogers Washington] to be remembered as a vibrant community which had families who were well educated, who had accomplishments and goals, which helped to open a lot of doors for people of color. Regardless if you’re African-American or Hispanic, Latino. The neighborhood that was well kept, well established and was part of the community of East Austin.
Even though it has changed through the years, it needs to be remembered as a very remarkable and outstanding community in Austin, and let it not be forgotten that it did once exist.”