SAN MARCOS COMMUNITY FEATURE
The story of Helen Jackson Franks
It is difficult to sum up someone who has done so many things with her life and has impacted the community in so many different ways. Helen Jackson Franks may be small in stature, but she is a force to be reckoned with, walking hand-inhand with her creator at all times. She was one of the first Black women to attend Texas State University, coining the phrase “We did, so you could.” Franks was a teacher in San Marcos for decades, earning a reputation as being tough but fair. Above all else, she may be one of the most loving people on the planet with a long list of friends that far surpasses that of the average person. In July, Franks celebrated her 81st birthday at the Dunbar Recreation Center, and a large crowd, composed of her family, friends and many elected officials from various departments of government, were all in attendance – a testament to how well known and respected she is.
“I'm so glad that I can walk in the community and people will recognize me and thank me for the things that I've done for them,” Franks said. “That's the greatest accomplishment that I could have achieved in San Marcos. And one thing that my dad and my paternal grandmother told me, ‘Always have dignity and live a good Life.’” Franks’ good work in the community has not gone unnoticed, including by San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson.
“Mrs. Franks is a lovely woman who has served her community well in her chosen profession of teaching, her leadership in her church and throughout the community,” she said.
Franks was born in San Marcos to J.C. Jackson and Tommie Francis Myers Jackson on July 13, 1943. She has very fond memories of growing up in San Marcos.
“I would run errands for most of the older people here in San Marcos. I would go to Miss Ollie's grocery store,” Franks said. “When Miss Effie Hamilton would send me, she would maybe give me $1 to get a loaf of bread, and I would bring her back… 25 cents, and she was due more money. I kept the change to buy candy.”
Franks would watch “the old ladies go from house to house on Sunday’s picking each other up and walking to First Baptist,” which is the same church Franks attended then and still attends today; the church has since moved and is now called New Zion Baptist Church. She is deeply entrenched in her faith, using the Golden Rule as a guide for how to treat others.
“I don't even believe that I can walk without Him holding my hand,” Franks said. “I know that he said, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and He will direct your path.’ That's why I just sit still, pray, watch and see what he's going to do in my life, and I am so happy that he has fulfilled my dreams.”
The current pastor of New Zion Baptist church is Franks’ nephew, Colby Cotton, and he said she is a giver with the special ability to meet people right where they are.
“Every time I see her she gives me a kiss on my forehead and tells me to keep on pushing,” Cotton said. “She continues to make sure that me and my family are taken care of. She is small in stature, but her voice carries so much weight and power. She is a pillar in our church and is the glue that keeps us going in times of uncertainties. I love her and thank God for her support in public and behind the scenes.”
Though Franks grew up in segregated schools, she said San Marcos was a better place to be than most at that time. Many of her friends were white, including one of her good friends Kay Posey, who attended her birthday party in July.
“When schools were integrated here, we didn’t have any problems whatsoever,” Franks said. “I felt for the other parts of the world that were going through turmoil, but here in San Marcos I was grateful.”
Franks’ father, J.C. Jackson, owned three local businesses and “had a lot of pull.”
“He worked for old man Fields, which owned Fields Furniture Company, where Sean Patrick’s is now. My daddy was the general manager there… Mr. Fields gave two buildings to my dad, which were next door to the furniture store. My dad had a used furniture store back in the day, and he made draperies,” Franks said. “Then he had a beer joint in Hunter, Texas right across from Riley’s.”
Franks graduated high school early, at the age of 16, and her father “didn’t waste any time” ensuring that she was enrolled in college. She began her college education at Houston-Tillotson University in 1961. Education was something that her father treasured and wanted for both her and her sister, Francis Nell Missie Jackson. Dana Smith, an 18-year old Black woman, applied to Texas State University in 1962 and was denied due to her race. She hired a lawyer and won the case, which opened the doors for other Black students. The first Black women to attend the university in 1963 were Smith, Georgia Hoodye Cheatham — whom Franks grew up with and lives two doors down from today, Gloria Odoms Powell, Mabeleen Washington, and of course, Franks.
“When he [Franks’ father] found out that Dana Smith got a lawyer to integrate Texas State, he immediately let me know about it. He wanted me to come home, but I was having finals that day and couldn’t come at all,” Franks said. “He went to speak with the Dean of Students, and he told him to let me take my exams and bring me and enroll me the next day.”
Though things growing up were peaceful, Franks admitted she was nervous the day she was slated to attend what today is called Texas State University.
“I was crying. Tears were just rolling everywhere,” Franks said. “My grandmother looked at me and said, ‘Baby, why are you crying?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to go to school where no one wants me to get an education. I wasn’t afraid. I was hurt. She said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You know where you came from. You know where you’re going. Now, what are you going to do when you get there?’ I said, ‘Get an education and give it back to my community.’” She moved in with her paternal grandmother, Ellen “Gold” McFarland at the age of 14. She often found strength in McFarland, who regularly used that saying to get her motivated during hard times, the same one that gave her the strength to go to college that day.
Franks met her future husband at the Chili Dog Stand on Guadalupe Street while she was in college. William “Bill” Franks was in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division before he went to TXST and majored in Criminal Justice. Franks knew he was the one immediately because of his patience and his tall stature.
“He was so patient with me, because I was spoiled. My dad spoiled me a lot,” Franks said. “But anything that I asked him to do for me, he did it with love.”
Bill was one of the first Black police officers in San Marcos along with Ogden “Sandy” Coleman and Ed Johnson. He was later a highway patrol officer before becoming an officer in Seguin and then Austin, where he retired. Upon retirement, Bill was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer, and the family moved him into Legend Oaks, a convalescent home in Kyle.
On a ride home from New Bern, North Carolina with her family, Franks was in a deep sleep in the backseat when she heard a voice call her name. Apparently not spoken by anyone in the car, she went back to sleep but awoke to the news that Bill had passed away.
“Had he been living this past March 17, I believe it was, we would have been married 57 years. That's why I don't take these off,” Franks said, pointing to her ring finger. “He was the love of my life.”
Franks realized she wanted to become a teacher at age 13 when she taught her maternal grandmother, Nellie Irene Myers, how to write her own name. The joy that this act brought her was the seed that led to a decades long career in education. She started her career at Bonham Pre-Kindergarten. In 1982, she went to teach at the high school to the chagrin of her daughter Starlette Franks-Williams, who was a freshman at the time and knew that her mother had “zero tolerance” for breaking the rules. Franks said that applied to her students as well.
“I would discipline them, and then I would love them,” Franks said. “I taught them how to have respect for themselves and others, but they had to learn in order to be productive in the world.”
As her daughter, Starlette, put it, her mother is a “no nonsense person.”
“She says what she means and she means what she says, but it will be in support for an individual to thrive,” she said.
Franks taught at the highschool until 1998 when she decided to take a year-long break. She then went back to teach at Miller Junior High and retired in 2012. She started her career teaching ISS and later taught Social Studies.
Franks family has grown over the years, a fact that she takes great pride in.
“I enjoy my life with my family, my daughters, both of them, Donna and Starlette, and my grandchildren,” Franks said, adding that she has five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Franks and her daughter, Starlette Franks-Williams, have a special relationship, and she will do anything for her mom “that is within reason.” Franks-Williams lived in Kyle until her father was diagnosed with cancer, then she moved closer to her mother. When he passed away, she moved in with her.
“She has stuck by me through thick and thin,” Franks said. “Then I have the adopted daughter, Donna Perkins. She has never missed a day of calling.”
Franks-Williams said her mother has always cared for her and still does, but that love has extended to whomever needed it, creating new family members.
“Her grandchildren and great grandchildren are the air she breathes. She has also loved and cared for others who call her Mother Helen, Aunt Helen or Grandma Helen. Family is not always blood,” she said. “She has always made sure they feel loved, valued, supported, respected and prayed for.”
Franks has become a second mother and a loving guide to many in the community, including Robbin Mitchell.
“Mother Helen Franks is more than a mentor to me; she is a pillar of strength and love, deeply rooted in her heritage and faith. Her loyalty is unwavering, and her capacity to give of herself is a testament to the depth of her character. She embodies the essence of a tree planted by rivers of water — nourished by the rich legacy of her Black heritage and the solid foundation of her Godly upbringing,” Mitchell said. “Since the loss of my mother in 2012, I never imagined I could experience the same depth of love and encouragement that a mother provides. Yet, Mother Helen Franks has accomplished the impossible. She has filled that void with a love so profound, it feels as though she is my own flesh and blood. Her words are not just spoken; they carry a weight that resonates deeply within me, reminding me that my walk with God is significant and that with my eyes fixed on the Lord, I can achieve anything. Her hugs are more than a simple embrace — they are an anchor, grounding me in times of uncertainty and settling my spirit when life becomes overwhelming.”
Franks’ parents divorced when she was five years old. Her father told her they loved one another but couldn’t live together. However, he continued to take care of her mother “until the day that she passed,” which is a day Franks remembers very well. On Dec. 16, 1993, she received a phone call from her daughter telling her the bad news. She drove straight to her mother’s house where she was met at the door by Nell Burleson, her cousin, and Reverend Franklin, who was the pastor of her church at the time.
“And when I got into the house, she was on the bathroom floor, sweetheart. And I picked her up in my arms, and I embraced her,” Franks said with tears welling up in her eyes. “That afternoon, my dad came over. He looked at me, and he said, ‘Baby, don't you worry about anything. Everything is going to be all right.’ So I didn't pay it any attention. Six days later, my dad passed, Dec. 22, 1993. Can you imagine burying one and making funeral arrangements for the other?”
Franks was working on a project that would sum up what it was like to grow up in San Marcos in the Dunbar neighborhood, and she was receiving help from one of her mentors before he passed away last year. Her mentor, Dr. Elvin Holt, was the first Black tenured professor at Texas State University.
“He was helping me write my book ‘Good Times in the Colored Part of Town,’” Franks said, adding that when he passed away, she lost access to his notes. “I didn’t get to keep any of them because we would work on them from his home. But I have enough knowledge to start over again. So I don’t know how long it will take me, but I’m hoping and trusting that I’ll finish it before I die.”
The people of San Marcos will surely wait with bated breath to read her memoir.
