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San Benito monument honors the Valley’s first black community

By: Bella Michaels

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Those taking a stroll down Doherty Street in San Benito will come across the Callandret Black History Museum.

For 50-year-old Charles Brock, the area is home.

A new granite monument at the corner of the street honors the 559 people who helped establish a Black community in San Benito at the turn of the 20th century.

The monument was unveiled during a Saturday ceremony.

One of the pioneers who was recognized was Brock's great-grandmother, Fannie Callandret.

In 1949, Callandret donated land from her estate to San Benito ISD to build a school for black students.

The school opened its doors back in 1952, and it's now a museum.

“It's a very proud moment… part of my mom’s hard work to get here as well,” Brock said. “It's disappointing at the same time that she couldn't see it, so there's a lot of emotions there."

Brock said his mother, Linda Callandret Brock, worked hard to keep the legacy alive alongside Sandra Tumberlinson — co-founder of the San Benito Historical Society. 

The $25,000 monument was paid for by the Cameron County Commissioner's Court through the American Rescue Plan Act.

For 81-year-old Lonnie Davis, the community has come a long way.

“This has a very significant meaning to let it grow like this and be interviewed and that type of thing, before there was nobody there,” Davis said.

Davis said he was a student in San Benito's all-black school during the segregation era in the 1940s. He said he hoped today's generation can look back at this monument and museum and carry on the legacy of the names etched into the granite.

“I want them to think about the success that we've had from this little small community, and we've had a lot of them,” Davis said. “We're trying to establish something here that this will be remembered forever."

Brock echoed Davis’ wishes.

“If people forget history, history may rear its ugly head,” Brock said.

Watch the video above for the full story. 

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