The Wall That Failed: How One Community Navigated the Shifting Sands of Integration in West Texas

A wall that was five feet high and built of concrete, rock, and mortar split Crane, Texas, in half more than a half century ago--with blacks on one side and whites on the other.

Evelyn Rossler Stroder, a longtime teacher, gave little thought to the wall as she ran teacher errands to the former Bethune School for blacks, which in the late 1960s became the Bethune Annex to the Crane school system.

In this history, she explores the origins of the wall, the community's recollection of it, and how it symbolized the ugliness of racial segregation. She also examines the consequences of separating the school systems, swimming pools, movie theaters, and most every facet of life in the small oil field community.

The story also celebrates how sports brought the two communities together, beginning with the Bethune basketball team, which had won three state championships in their conference of all-black schools, coming together with their new, white classmates in 1965. The integrated team brought Crane all the way to the state finals.

Discover how sports helped a small West Texas town move forward in this inspiring tale about The Wall That Failed.