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