"Cotton Industry in Ellis County" Historical Marker Dedication on September 7th, 2023

Ellis County has a new historical marker!

The new “Cotton Industry in Ellis County” historical marker is located at Pecan Springs Ranch and was dedicated yesterday at the Ellis County Museum. The marker commemorates the legacy of cotton-growing in Ellis County’s economic, social, and architectural heritage.

“Not many people know that in the early 20th Century, Ellis County, Texas was the largest producer of cotton in the world,” says Sharan Farmer, the Historic Commission member who led research efforts for the new marker. “Cotton, cattle, and railroads shaped most of Texas, and the same is true for Ellis County - especially Waxahachie, which thrived as a cotton town. Our now-famous architectural landscape, including the Historic Courthouse and other vintage buildings still in use today, directly resulted from the cotton boom that began in the 1890’s.”

During the dedication ceremony, several individuals spoke of the importance of preserving local heritage, including David Gravelle of the Texas Historical Commission. David Smith, the “Waxahachie Cowboy Poet ‘Lariat,’ read his poem “Truth and Wealth” to illustrate what life was like for 19th-Century settlers seeking to make a fortune in the uncharted territories of Texas. Gary Farmer, a “Sixth Generation Ellis Countian,” overviewed the history of the cotton industry in Ellis County.

Professor Clarence Glover, a.k.a "Professor Freedom, the Cotton-Picking Educator," is a former Adjunct Professor of African-American Studies at Southern Methodist University and founder of the African-American Cotton Pickers Day. He brought a burlap “plantation sack” to the ceremony and demonstrated how cotton-pickers worked diligently to gather as much of the crop as possible for ginning.

“In Texas, you had what was called ‘low cotton,’ as opposed to ‘high cotton’ in other parts of the South, and bending down all day to pick the ‘low cotton’ was back-breaking work,” he noted. “A lot of people today see this sort of labor as a historical problem, but the cotton was not the problem; it was simply a job that had to be done. The problem was that many African-Americans did not receive pay for their work during slavery, and low wages during Jim Crow, thus leaving them unable to own land and create generational wealth. I am here today to commemorate African-American cotton pickers, the unsung heroes and heroines of the cotton industry in Ellis County and throughout the South. This is the reason I established the 4th Monday of October as ‘African-American Cotton Pickers Day.' By connecting the economic cotton dots of our past, we can heal our future.”

During the ceremony, State Representative Brian Harrison, Ellis County Judge Todd Little, and Waxahachie Mayor David Hill each presented proclamations commemorating the historic significance of the cotton industry in Ellis County. Judge Todd Little concluded by announcing that the Commissioners’ Court will donate $50,000 a year, for three years, to the Ellis County Museum to promote its educational endeavors.

“A lot of young people today don’t know the value and the significance of the agricultural economy that built Ellis County,” he said, “but we can only build our future from our heritage.”

The dedication ceremony concluded with a benediction from John Paul Dineen, State Director of District 4 of the Texas Farm Bureau.

We also want to give special thanks to Nancy and Ted Paup for sponsoring the historic marker on their property, as well as Reggie Cook, Ryan Mullican, and Hector Rivera of Waxahachie High School for their performance of “Cotton Fields” during the event.

#texashistory #kingcotton #historicalmarker