LEGENDS IN THE LOCKERS: Fort Worth’s PVIL Legacy Rises: Four Trailblazers Named to the Class of 2027.

LEGENDS IN THE LOCKERS: Fort Worth’s PVIL Legacy Rises: Four Trailblazers Named to the Class of 2027 | PVIL Legacy Game: https://fwtx.com/news/dunbar-kennedale-game-kicks-off-celebration-of-black-sports-/

FORT WORTH, Tx. From the football field and basketball court to the track, classroom, military service and community, Art Perkins, John Gales, Jimmy Gales and Madison Hogan carried Fort Worth’s I.M. Terrell and Dunbar legacies far beyond the city.

Fort Worth’s Prairie View Interscholastic League story is still being written. It lives in the memories of former players, the records set by its athletes, the students shaped by its teachers and coaches, and the service of those who carried their commitment beyond the playing field. Now four Fort Worth trailblazers are headed for induction into the 2027 PVILCA Hall of Fame. (Black History in October: https://blacktexans.blogspot.com/2026/10/a-legacy-of-black-history-in-october.html).

The honorees—Art “Pearly” Perkins, John Gales, James “Jimmy” Gales and Madison Hogan—represent different paths through sports and service. Together, they tell a larger story: Black excellence forged in Fort Worth schools and carried into college athletics, professional football, public education, military service and community life.

The road to this class began when Coach Robert Brown came to Fort Worth for the 2026 PVIL Legacy Game and film celebrating the history of Texas high school football during the PVIL era, from 1920 to 1970. Brown asked Pastor Kyev Tatum, Fort Worth’s newly appointed PVIL Legacy Coordinator, to identify four deserving nominees for the 2027 class.

Tatum turned to Coach Todd Lawson for a recommendation from Dunbar High School—the only former PVIL school in Fort Worth still playing football. Lawson’s answer came without hesitation: Art Perkins.

Art “Pearly” Perkins: Dunbar to the pros

A PVIL Dunbar graduate, Perkins made his mark as a football player, coach and pioneer. In 1958, he and Billy Christie became the first African American athletes to integrate North Texas State on four-year athletic scholarships. Perkins went on to play professional football, including for the Los Angeles Rams, and later built a coaching career. His nickname, “Pearly,” became part of a legacy that began in Fort Worth and reached far beyond it.

Perkins’ story captures the power of opportunity—and the courage required to enter places that had not previously welcomed Black athletes. His induction will honor both the player who excelled on the field and the trailblazer whose presence helped widen the path for those who followed.

John Gales: A champion on the court, a pioneer in the classroom

John Gales’ Fort Worth story began at I.M. Terrell High School. In 1957, he was a member of the school’s PVIL Class 3A state basketball championship team. More than a decade later, he broke a barrier of a different kind: in 1968, he became the first coach and teacher to integrate the Fort Worth ISD when he joined Green B. Trimble Tech High School. Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/john-gales-legendary-basketball-coach-educator-forth-worth-isd-passes-away/

Gales went on to serve Fort Worth students for 36 years. His legacy reaches beyond championships and the milestone of integration. It lives on in the generations of young people he taught, coached and encouraged, including Pastor Tatum. 

Jimmy Gales: The Mean Green’s first NCAA Tournament coach

John’s brother, James “Jimmy” Gales, was a 1959 I.M. Terrell graduate and another athlete shaped by the PVIL tradition. He coached at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas and later served as an assistant coach at North Texas State University. Link: https://youtu.be/CTz-4xP0HLc?is=Kqx2qTMM6oGbp4Wo

In 1986, Gales became North Texas’ first Black head basketball coach. During his seven seasons, his teams won 84 games, and he became the first coach to lead the Mean Green men’s team to the NCAA Tournament. His 1987–88 squad closed the regular season with nine consecutive victories to claim the Southland Conference regular-season title, then won the conference tournament and earned a place in the NCAA field. 

That achievement remains a landmark in North Texas basketball history. Gales’ induction will recognize a coach who brought success to the program and opened another door in college athletics. Coach Jimmy Gales was also a mentor to Pastor Tatum. 

Madison Hogan: The runner who kept documenting history

I.M. Terrell track standout Madison Hogan still holds the school’s mile record. His life carried him from the track to service as a United States Marine during the Vietnam War, then to photography and community advocacy. Hogan became a historian and a devoted documentarian of the people and events around him.

He began taking photographs in 1963, while attending I.M. Terrell, and never stopped. In a 2020 Fort Worth Star-Telegram interview, Hogan said he photographed for free because he wanted to keep people informed. His work took him to Washington during Watergate, to Dallas before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and to Vietnam during the early years of the war. He also recalled protesting discrimination and police brutality with the United Front in Fort Worth. 

In 2020, Hogan was recognized by the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a Stone of Hope recipient. His induction honors not only a gifted runner, but also a veteran, historian, photographer and witness to history—someone who understood that a community’s story deserves to be seen and remembered. 

Link: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article245521480.html

A Houston celebration—and a Fort Worth home for the legacy

The PVILCA’s 47th annual banquet and induction gala is scheduled for Saturday, July 10, 2027, in Houston, with a meet-and-greet planned for Friday evening, July 9.  Fort Worth schoolmates, former players, relatives and friends are expected to travel together on a chartered bus. Organizers are developing a trip package that will include transportation, a hotel room and banquet tickets at a reasonable cost.

The celebration will carry the spirit of “PVIL Legends in the Locker Room,” bringing together the people who played, coached, learned and grew alongside these four history makers.

The work of honoring Fort Worth’s PVIL legacy reaches beyond one weekend. Plans are taking shape for a PVIL Legacy House—a place where the histories of I.M. Terrell, Kirkpatrick, Como and Dunbar can be preserved and shared under one roof.

“Fort Worth’s history in the PVIL is long and distinguished,” Tatum said. “It’s time to bring all four PVIL schools together and celebrate their remarkable achievements in one place. Our vision is to establish a PVIL Legacy House where generations to come can study and enjoy the love and legacy of I.M. Terrell, Kirkpatrick, Como and Dunbar.”

The PVIL Legacy House and Coffee Center would give students, families, former athletes and researchers a place to encounter that history as a living inheritance. These four inductees embody what such a place could preserve: excellence, perseverance, leadership and service, carried from one generation to the next.

To learn more about the PVIL Hall of Fame trip, PVIL Legends in the Locker Room or the PVIL Legacy House, contact Pastor Kyev Tatum at 817-966-7625 or kptatum1@gmail.com.