Enriquez, Sandra Rodriguez, Samantha O'Neal, David

Description

David H. O'Neal was born in 1948 in Galveston. He comes from a family of three people who traveled to the South to make a living. O'Neal grew-up in a few African-American housing projects on the island. He attended Central High, the first African-American high school in Texas, and his was the last class to graduate before the creation of the integrated Ball High. O'Neal relocated to Houston in 1966 to enroll in the University of Houston, where he would participate in student activism and the creation of an African-American fraternity (the Omega Theta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity). He returned to the island after graduating from college. In Galveston, O'Neal started a career as a post office worker, served on the Board of Trustees for Galveston Independent School District, and participated in the preservation of African-American history on the island. O'Neal talks about experiences with discrimination, how significant Central High was to African-Americans, his decision to attend college over enlisting to serve in the Vietnam War, the role of African-American fraternities, his involvement in Afro-Americans for Black Liberation and the Black Student Union, cross-racial student endeavors, African American Studies at UH, and his commitment to racial uplift. He also discusses mentoring young men through baseball, serving on the GISD Board of Trustees, his involvement as a board member of the Old Central Cultural Center, the political ramifications of hurricanes, and the African-American Heritage Committee of the Galveston Historical Foundation.7 video recordings (1 hr., 47 min., 22 sec.) :...

Record Contributed By

TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library

Record Harvested From

The Portal to Texas History