Facts About Our School

    Dogan Junior High School, located in North Tyler on Border Street, was first opened in September, 1962, with an enrollment of 462 students.  The school consisted of 14 classrooms, one library, one gymnasium, one shop, one cafeteria, and one administrative suite.

    The school was named for Matthew W. Dogan, who was born December 21, 1863, at Pontatoc, Mississippi.  He  was educated at Rust College where he received an A.B. degree in 1884 and from Walden College where he received a PhD. degree in 1890.  He served as Professor of Mathematics at Central Tennessee College from 1889-96 and as President of Wiley College in  Marshall, Texas from 1896-1945, a forty-nine year period.

    It was during his presidency at Wiley College that he made his greatest contribution to the field of education in Texas  and the nation.  Wiley College, under the leadership of Dr. Dogan, was the first black college west of the Mississippi River to receive an "A" rating by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.  He was instrumental in the establishment of the first endowment for the institution.

    Dogan was identified with the following groups in leadership roles: The National Negro Business League, the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, the National Y.M.C.A. Council, and the Methodist General Conference.  For a number of years he was a member of the Texas Inter-Racial Council, the first such statewide group in Texas.  He was president of the Negro State Teachers Association and a long-time member of its Executive Committee.  Despite his active life, this beloved schoolman found time to write and author the book, The Negro in Methodism.

Dogan Falcons