Waelder Colored School opened in 1948 as an institute to educate the black children of the city and surrounding communities. In 1955, principal Shelvin J. Hall (1916-2007), who also pastored Mt. Eden Baptist Church, suggested the school’s name change to honor Ralph Bunche (1904-1971), the first African American to receive a Nobel Prize. Teachers who help shape Ralph Bunche and its legacy include Professors Taylor, Carrol, Poole and Evens, Myrtle Pettit, Willie B. Jarman, Dalphus Derry, Dorothy Derry, Elroy Marcee, Seth Dockery Jr. and E.L. Pryor. Though the school closed in 1967 after integration, the facility continued to be used for athletics and reunions.