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George Elvin Keaton, Jr., was an African American Historian and educator whose work centered on the history of Black Dallas. He was an author and helped to establish historical markers in Dallas County that commemmorated significant figures and events in Dallas' history.

Early Life and Career

George Keaton, Jr., was born on December 3, 1956, in Dallas, Texas. He was a graduate of the University of North Texas, earning a bachelor's degree and later a master's degree in Clinical Counseling and an additional degree in Guidance Counseling. In 2017 he received his doctorate in Humanities from the Texas Institute of Bible Studies. He worked for Dallas ISD for 31 years as an elementary school teacher and guidance counselor. After his retirement in 2015 he dedicated his life's work to documenting, preserving, and researching African American History in Dallas, Texas.

Keaton's work as a researcher began with his own genealogy, stating in an interview with dallas doing good: “My grandmother was a great historian. She talked about her husband’s family a lot – the Turner family…She worked for her father-in-law, who was a former slave, who had 90 acres near where the Cooper Center is now. She weighed the cotton and kept the books…she built those interests into me; she made me who I am today.” He established Remembering Black Dallas INC. in 2015 and served as its executive director. The purpose of this organization is to "promote the African American life, history, artifacts, and culture of Dallas and its surrounding cities". This organization was a continuation of a previously existing organization called Black Dallas Remembered, which was run by Dr. Mamie L. McKnight.

He was a caretaker of White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories, which was Dallas' first integrated cemetery, and operated a catering business.

Historical Preservation

Keaton's work led to his frequent collaboration with UT Dallas' School of Arts, Humanities and Technology, collaborating with professors to present his research to students and assissting in connecting students with historical projects in Dallas.

In 2016, Keaton donated his family's archive of materials on his ancestor John Lewis Turner, Sr. (1869-1951), who was born in Dallas County and was a graduate of Wiley College and Kent College of Law, to SMU's Underwood Law Library.

By 2020 Keaton was recognized as a prominent local historian, leading local history tours and working with the City of Dallas to create a historical marker for Dallas' Martyr's Park. Martyr's Park was the site of a mass lynching that had occured in July 1860. A fire had ravaged the city, and enslaved African Americans were blamed for the conflagration. Three men, Patrick Jennings, Samuel Smith, and a man called Old Cato, were hanged days after the fire. Keaton had been asked to assist with creating text for the marker, and insisted on the inclusion of the word "lynching" in the marker as well as recognizing that the men were enslaved. He would continue to work on memorializing the site and other lynchings in Dallas until his passing.

Keaton led the Dallas County Justice Initiative coalition, which was formed in 2020. This coalition served a prominent role in the memorialization of lynching victims in Dallas, including Reuben Johnson and Allen Brooks. A marker dedicated to Allen Brooks, who had been lynched by a mob on March 3, 1910, was unveiled November 20, 2021. Keaton extensively researched the history of Brooks' alleged crime and in the capacity of director of the Dallad County Justice Initiative secured funding for the marker from the Equal Justice Initiative. In an interview regarding the marker, Keaton stated that "Everybody knows J.F.K. was assassinated here in Dallas, we have no problem recognizing that part of history, but when it comes to our people of color, the sins and the wrongdoings that white America has done to our people, they do not want to be known.”

Remembering Black Dallas and Keaton spearheaded the research and work to establish a Texas State historical marker at Anderson Bonner Park. Anderson Bonner was born into slavery in Alabama in 1839, and by the time of his death in North Dallas in 1920, had acquired over 3,000 acres of land per Keaton's research. While the park dedicated to Bonner had been established in 1976, it had taken Keaton years of research and collaboration with Bonner's descendants to establish a historical marker.

Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas, which Keaton co-edited with Judith Garrett Segura, was published in September 2022 through UNT Press. The book features stories collected and published by Dr. Mamie McKnight and Black Dallas Remembered and more contemporary research on Dallas' African American communities and families. It includes personal narratives as well as the history of the establishment of Black businesses, churches, and community organizations in Dallas.

Dr. George E. Keaton, Jr., died on December 6, 2022, at Baylor Hospital following a brief battle with cancer. His viewing was held at Dallas' Hall of State, with his service being conducted at Christian Chapel Temple of Faith.

Awards and Recognitions

Keaton was a board member of Preservation Dallas and the African American Museum of Dallas. In 2019 he was inducted into the African American Education Archives and History Program’s Hall of Fame. A moment of silence was dedicated to Keaton during the unveiling of the historical marker for Dr. Marcellus Cooper - Keaton had served as an advisor on the marker and helped coordinate the unveiling before his passing. A conference room in the African American Museum of Dallas was dedicated to Dr. Keaton in February 2024.

References

1. ^ "George Elvin Keaton, Jr". Evergreen Funeral Homes. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
2. ^ "Dr. George Keaton: Remembering Black Dallas". dallas doing good. April 15, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
3. Erickson, Bethany (December 9, 2022). "Remembering George Keaton Jr., Who Made Sure the History of Black Dallas Wasn't Forgotten". DMagazine. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
4. ^ "About Remembering Black Dallas". Remembering Black Dallas. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
5. "AHT Faculty Reflects on Recent Passing of Fellow Dallas Historian and Social Justice Warrior". Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
6. Ahmed, Amal (February 26, 2020). "The Walking Tours Tracing Dallas's Forgotten Black History: Through strolls along pedestrian bridges and historic neighborhoods, local historians are elevating black Dallasites' stories". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
7. Thomas, By MiCaih (2024-06-21). "Dallas Recognizes the History of Martyrs Park, Hidden in Plain Sight". D Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
8. "Dallas Community Memorializes Allen Brooks with Historical Marker". Equal Justice Initiative. November 20, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
9. Arauz Peña, Pablo (November 20, 2021). "'111 years in the making': Dallas advocates unveil historical marker for Allen Brooks". KERA News. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
10. Fahy, Claire (November 20, 2021). "Allen Brooks, Victim of a 1910 Lynching, Is Remembered in Dallas: A new historical marker commemorates the intersection where a mob paraded Brooks's body after he was savagely killed while awaiting trial". The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
11. Grigsby, Sharon (September 2, 2022). "Born into slavery, Dallas pioneer and his land holdings were lost to history — until now". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
12. "Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas". UNT Press. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
13. Volmert, Isabella; Jones, Aria; Ferguson, Lana (December 7, 2022). "Dallas historian, community activist George Keaton Jr. dies at 66". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
14. "Dallas to Celebrate African American History with New Exhibition and Tribute to Dr. George Keaton Jr". Hoodline. 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2024-12-26.

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• 1956 births
• 2022 deaths