On December 26, 1949, cofounders the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines and the Head of School Rev. William Brewster officially broke ground on the St. Stephen’s Hill Country property. Brewster believed “that a Church school have in it both boys and girls of every economic and social group, that color of skin be no barrier."

Integration was a founding vision of Brewster and Hines, who marched beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but it took a decade to begin. Before he died in 1953, Brewster wrote that in “church schools” we should “insist” that “racial background is no barrier.” 

Pat Means King ’66 is the first Black graduate at St. Stephen’s

The 1972 yearbook page titled “A Chance to Be Yourself” suggests the period’s new challenges to authority. Yearbooks show students wearing the era in their expressive clothing choices.

Students gather under a welcome banner on The Hill

The 1987 trustee minutes sounded an alarm. Texas history and a pivotal stage of school history tested St. Stephen’s survival as a boarding school.

Students register for classes at the start of the academic year

Head of School Frederick Weissbach’s charge to “save the boarding program” generated initiatives and the recruitment of a new generation of school leaders.

Sarah Todd, director of international program begins travels to Asia to visit students and host families

By the 21st century, a two-race system no longer defined U.S. society or St. Stephen’s. The school had diversity within its diversity. Globalization not only diversified the student population in wonderful ways, but it also boosted student interest in being global citizens.

Students walking by the Chapel embody the enduring spirit of St. Stephen’s