08/24/2026
BEAUMONT BLACK HISTORY LEGACY - 1970 CHARLTON-POLLARD STUDENT WALKOUT - Mrs. Jessie Davis interview of Mr. Gerald Saliens about his role in the walkout. Mr. Saliens described what lead up to the walkout which was a Black History Program which he sponsored. Several white teachers did not like the program. It was reported to the School Board which felt it and the discussion held were inappropriate. They dismissed him, Paul Brown approached the school administration and he was dismissed. The students feeling the dismissals were inappropriate organized a peaceful walkout leaving the campus and assembling at Caroll Street Park. Charlton Pollards 1970 Senior class coordinated the walkout spreading word through classrooms and social networks.
March 19th the second period bell rang at 10:00 am 1,000 students exited the building in a unified demonstration gathering at what was then known as Carroll Street Park to voice their objections. The walkout was peaceful but firm—students wanted the school district to understand that decisions affecting Black educators would not go unchallenged. From the Park they marched to the Beaumont Independent School District Office. The 1970 Class risked losing the prom, and even graduation. The week of the walkout was final examination week. The classrooms stayed empty for a week, before the School Board announced that the teachers would be reinstated.
The student’s walkout received parental and African American community support. The Beaumont Chapter of the NAACP aligned itself with the protesting students and parents brought out lunches. The walkout was seen as part of a broader struggle for fair treatment, representation, and educational equity. School administrators attempted to downplay the event, but the protest highlighted growing tensions in Beaumont as federal desegregation orders loomed. The walkout didn’t just change the Beaumont Schools it changed Beaumont.
Historical Significance - Even though it may not appear in digitized archives, the walkout fits squarely within the pattern of Black student activism across the South during the late 1960s and early 1970s. These actions were often sparked by the firing of Black teachers, unequal facilities, discriminatory discipline, and the erasure of Black leadership during desegregation.
For Charlton Pollard, the walkout became part of the school’s legacy of self advocacy, pride, and community resistance—a precursor to the major changes that would come with the 1975 court ordered merger with Beaumont High School. NOTE the picture of the students walking out is a AI generated depiction of what occurred.
