William Rubio Carbajal
Historical marker location:WILLIAM RUBIO CARBAJAL
THE FIRST MEXICAN AMERICAN TO ATTEND AND GRADUATE FROM GOLIAD HIGH SCHOOL WAS WILLIAM RUBIO CARBAJAL. THE EFFORT TO GET HIM ADMITTED TO THE HIGH SCHOOL AND RECEIVE THE SAME EDUCATION AS ANGLO AMERICANS WAS AN IMPORTANT STRUGGLE FOR MEXICAN AMERICANS IN GOLIAD COUNTY AND IN TEXAS. WILLIAM WAS BORN IN MAY OF 1915, AND WAS THE NINTH GENERATION OF HIS FAMILY TO BE BORN IN TEXAS. HIS ANCESTORS HAD SERVED THE U.S. MILITARY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, TEXAS REVOLUTION, CIVIL WAR, INDIAN WARS AND WORLD WAR I. WILLIAM ATTENDED A SEGREGATED PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF GOLIAD. THE MEXICAN SCHOOL ENDED WITH THE SEVENTH GRADE AND CONSISTED OF A SMALL 20 X 30 FOOT ROOM WITH UP TO SIXTY CHILDREN IN ATTENDANCE. WILLIAM’S PRINCIPAL, FRANK WALLACE, BELIEVED HE SHOULD GO ON TO THE HIGH SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH IT WAS FOR WHITES ONLY.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF WALLACE, WILLIAM ASKED PERMISSION FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD TO ATTEND THE HIGH SCHOOL. HIS REQUEST WAS DENIED. THE FAMILY CONTINUED TO FIGHT AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE FROM THE SAN ANTONIO CHAPTER OF THE LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS (LULAC) IN 1932. LULAC RESPONDED BY FORMING THE GOLIAD CHAPTER WHICH STILL EXISTS TODAY. THE LULAC COUNCIL, FRANK WALLACE AND THE CARBAJAL FAMILY BROUGHT THE FIGHT TO THE TEXAS BOARD OF EDUCATION IN AUSTIN WHICH GRANTED HIM THE RIGHT TO ATTEND GOLIAD HIGH SCHOOL. THREE DAYS OF WAITING ON THE STEPS OF THE SCHOOL PASSED BEFORE THEY FINALLY ALLOWED HIM TO ENTER. WILLIAM EXCELLED IN HIS STUDIES, PARTICIPATED IN SCHOOL PLAYS AND MADE ALL-DISTRICT ON THE FOOTBALL TEAM. IN 1935, WILLIAM BECAME THE FIRST MEXICAN AMERICAN TO EARN A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA FROM THE GOLIAD HIGH SCHOOL.