Robert E. Lee Elementary School Entrance
Description
On October 31, 1938, the Public Works Administration offered the City of Austin a grant not to exceed $613,127 to cover 45% of the costs of school buildings, a stadium and field house, a central heating system, an underpass, an arcade and additions and alterations to existing school buildings, including necessary equipment and acquisition of necessary land under PWA Docket No. Texas-2134-F. Robert E. Lee Elementary School was one of the new schools built with this grant.
In May 2016, the Austin School Board changed the name of the school to Russell Lee Elementary in response to community concerns about honoring Confederate War General Robert E. Lee. Russell Lee, who lived in the school’s neighborhood for many years, was best known for his work as a documentary photographer for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression.
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Robert E. Lee Elementary School PWA Plaque
Source notes
http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=118465
http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=118526
Robert E. Lee Elementary Is Now Russell Lee Elementary, KUT: (http://kut.org/post/robert-e-lee-elementary-now-russell-lee-elementary), accessed February 20, 2018.
Project originally submitted by Larry Moore on July 21, 2014.
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