FAITH AT THE FIFTY

Celebrating the Prairie View Interscholastic League and the First Championship Football Game Played at Farrington Field in 1940

Thursday, October 22, 2026
Dunbar vs. Kennedale — 7:00 PM
At historic Farrington Field

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Long before integration changed the landscape of Texas high school athletics, Black schools across Texas built their own tradition of excellence, discipline, scholarship, and championship pride through the legendary Prairie View Interscholastic League.

Operating from 1920 to 1970 and organized through the Colored Teachers State Association of Texas in partnership with Prairie View A&M University, the PVIL served as the governing body for academic and athletic competitions for African American schools during segregation. The league provided a parallel structure to the white-only UIL and sponsored championships in football, basketball, track, music, debate, academics, and other extracurricular activities before eventually merging with the UIL following integration.

Within that league, Fort Worth emerged as one of Texas’ strongest and most respected football cities.

Historic Fort Worth schools such as I.M. Terrell High School, Kirkpatrick High School, Dunbar High School, and Como High School helped shape the story of Black high school athletics in Texas through perseverance, talent, scholarship, and community pride.

And at the center of that history stood Farrington Field.

In 1940, Farrington Field became the site of one of the most important football games in Texas history — the first Prairie View Interscholastic League state championship football game played in Fort Worth during the league’s early championship era.

That historic championship featured I.M. Terrell High School versus Anderson High School. Before a proud and energized Black community hungry for recognition and opportunity, I.M. Terrell defeated Anderson 26–0, capturing a historic PVIL state football championship and cementing Fort Worth’s place in Texas sports history.

The victory became more than a football win.

It became a symbol of dignity during segregation.
A symbol of Black excellence when opportunities were denied.
A symbol of community pride in a city where African American families built schools, churches, neighborhoods, businesses, and traditions despite enormous barriers.

For many families, PVIL football was not simply entertainment — it was identity, hope, discipline, and honor.

Schools like I.M. Terrell served students not only from Fort Worth, but also from surrounding communities including Arlington, Bedford, Benbrook, and beyond. The games united neighborhoods and inspired generations of young people to pursue education, leadership, and opportunity.

Meanwhile, schools such as Kirkpatrick and Dunbar carried the torch of athletic excellence throughout the 1950s and 1960s, building championship traditions that still echo through Fort Worth today.

The story of Como High School also reminds us that these schools were far more than athletic institutions. They were anchors of Black life and culture. The closing of many of these schools following desegregation deeply impacted communities whose identity had been tied to their neighborhood schools for generations.

Now, 86 years after that historic 1940 championship game, families, alumni, historians, educators, athletes, and community members will return to Farrington Field on October 22, 2026, to honor the legacy of the PVIL and remember the pioneers who played, coached, marched, taught, studied, and cheered during one of the most challenging eras in Texas history.

The tribute, titled “Faith at the Fifty,” will celebrate not only the game itself, but the faith, courage, resilience, discipline, and determination that carried Black communities through segregation and into history.

As Paul Laurence Dunbar High School takes the field against Kennedale High School that evening, the event will serve as a living bridge between generations — connecting today’s student-athletes with the giants who paved the way before them.

Because before Friday night lights became big business in Texas…

There were Black schools playing championship football with pride, discipline, faith, and excellence at Farrington Field.

And Fort Worth was there from the very beginning.

FAITH AT THE FIFTY

“Our Heritage. Our Heroes. Our History.”