Harrison Eppright has seen Austin change. Since he was born here in 1955, the city has grown from a sleepy town of around 150,000 people to a bustling city of almost a million.
The Austin of his childhood was also racially segregated. At a recent live taping of the "Black Austin Matters" podcast Eppright, who is Black, recounted that time vividly.
“At one time movie theaters like the Paramount and the State — Blacks could not attend those movie theaters downtown,” said Eppright. “We could go to the Ritz Theater. But we sat on the balcony … they had wooden seats up there and it was filthy. And when we went to the Harlem Theater around East 12th Street, which was built especially for Blacks and owned by a white man … you could sit anywhere you wanted to sit.”
Movie theaters in Austin were desegregated in 1963.
Eppright has made it his mission to make sure those facts, and the rest of the history of Black Austinites, aren’t lost as the city grows and changes.
He’s done that for more than 17 years by giving tours of Austin’s downtown and Eastside. Currently, he works as Visit Austin’s visitor services manager and tour ambassador.
In 2021 he was named Best Guide to Eastside History in the Austin Chronicle Best of Austin poll.
“I want it to be known as an integral part of the city. Black history, Hispanic history. Well, histories of all people are an integral part of this city” Eppright said.
He started working at Visit Austin in 1993. In 2007, the man who had been giving tours died suddenly.
"I learned a lot from him, and so I took over as tour guide,” Eppright said.
At first he just gave tours of downtown Austin, but then he decided he wanted to start giving tours of East Austin.
“I wanted to tell people of the assets and some of the people who made East Austin what it was and what it is still today.”
When asked what he wants people to know about East Austin, he started with the oldest institution of higher learning in Austin — Huston-Tillotson University. The historically black university was created by a merger in 1952 between Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College.
“Those two schools both predate the establishment of The University of Texas and the establishment of St Edward's University and Concordia,” he said.
He also wants people to know about the history of the small brick building next to the George Washington Carver Library that houses the George Washington Carver Museum's Genealogy Center.
“That building started out downtown as the first public library here in the city of Austin,” Eppright said. “It was it was originally located at West Ninth and Guadalupe … In 1933 a much larger library was built. Beautiful library. The building is still standing … It's now the Austin History Center. But there was only one little problem. Blacks could not check books out of that library."
"So the Black citizens of Austin, working with the American Association of University Women, petitioned the city to establish a library for Black Austinites. That building was moved from the northeast corner of West Ninth and Guadalupe over here to Angelina Street. It was renamed the Colored Branch of the Austin Public Library ... That was the very first branch library in the city of Austin.By 1945, the building, which was originally a wooden frame building, was given its present brick facade, and it was renamed the George Washington Carver branch of the Austin Public Library.”
Eppright wants to make sure that Austinites know this history. He wants people to know that his tours are not just for out-of-towners.
“I like to encourage Austinites to become tourists in their own town," he said "There's a lot to see.”
You can listen to the full interview by hitting play on the button at the top of this page, or find this episode and more of the "Black Austin Matters" podcast on Apple, Spotify. or wherever you get your podcasts.
