The Flats: Cradle of a Community

04/03/2026

TEXAS HISTORICAL MARKER HONORING THE FLATS EARLY DAYS GARLAND BLACK COMMUNITY TO BE CELEBRATED MAY 3

The public is invited to attend a Sunday, May 3 celebration for a Texas Historical Marker honoring The Flats, the early days Black residential/business community that existed in downtown Garland.

The marker has been awarded to Friends of Garland's historic Magic 11th Street nonprofit, sponsor of the original musical drama "The Flats", which first introduced to the wider community an awareness of this prominent area that existed alongside the Anglo business district during days of racial segregation.

A key scene from "The Flats: Cradle of a Community", with original cast, will be performed during the free, 3 p.m. celebration on May 3 at The Atrium, 300 North Fifth Street in the Granville Arts Center complex.

The Texas Historical Marker has been awarded by the Texas Historical Commission to commemorate The Flats' strategic importance to the State of Texas. It is the third state marker to be awarded Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street, besides one honoring the Travis College Hill National Register Historic District and one for the Manuel and Maria Valle Family.

The marker will be situated along Fifth Street near The Atrium, where the Garland Colored School, site of education for Garland's Black community, occurred during those days. Besides a school, The Flats also had residences, stores, and a church. The core of The Flats existed on the site of the Granville Arts Center and the Garland City Hall complex, as well as some surrounding areas.

The classroom scene (Scene 3) of the original musical will be performed as part of the May 3 celebration, highly significant since it depicts activities that occurred right on the site where it is being performed.

For more information write [email protected]

The event is funded in part by a grant from the Garland Cultural Arts Commission.

09/02/2025

The Flats Texas Historical Marker will be unveiled on May 3, 2026, with a special ceremony and re-enactment of Scene 3 at The Atrium. The Friends of Magic 11th Street seeks donations to help with the celebration and for the Sims Chapel marker.

08/11/2025

The Flats will be the subject of a new Texas Historical Marker recently awarded to Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street. The Flats early residential/business district in Garland was the subject of the musical drama, "The Flats: Cradle of a Community", produced in April 2024 at The Atrium.

06/25/2025

So thrilled to be able to keep our musical alive by performing one of the scenes during Juneteenth 6/14 in downtown Garland.

05/23/2025

What fun it will be to see Scene 2 performed again, this time on the Main Stage outdoors in downtown Garland. Hope you'll come out at 7 p.m. on June 14 and support some of your favorite performers as this special day is observed.

05/08/2025

MS. BETTIE BATTLE, TO BE HONORED AS SCENE IS PERFORMED DURING JUNETEENTH, WAS IN AUDIENCE AT "THE FLATS" PERFORMANCE THREE MONTHS BEFORE HER PASSING

What a total joy it was to tell Garlandites the story of The Flats neighborhood in the presence of Ms. Bettie Battle, the legendary Garland citizen who will be portrayed in the scene performed at Garland's Juneteenth observance.

The scene, to be on the big stage on Saturday, June 14, in downtown Garland, will tell the story of Bettie and her mama back in the 1930s when Bettie, as a child, watched her schoolhouse being moved to The Flats from the city's West End.

Ms. Bettie, though fit as she walked across the stage last year at The Atrium and was introduced, went into declining health soon afterward and passed away three months later at age 95.

Reared in Garland and in Plano, Bettie attended the Garland Colored School when it was situated in The Flats, where The Atrium sits now. She began her working career as a cook at Scott's Cafe at age 12. She was active in Sims Chapel Baptist Church in Garland, in the Bellaire Neighborhood Association, and Carver School PTA. She remained independent until age 94.

Her first husband, Robert Giddens, died early in their marriage. She later married H.B. Battle, who helped her rear her four children. Funeral services were held for her last July at Sims Chapel church.

The Juneteenth observance will be held from 5-9 p.m. in downtown Garland, and the scene from The Flats, sponsored by Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street, will occur at about 6 p.m. The evening's events are free and open to the public.

05/01/2025

Experience again the popular Scene 2, featuring the moving schoolhouse and Little Bettie and Mama, on the big outdoor stage in downtown Garland on June 14! Re-live the fun.

SCENE FROM SELL-OUT MUSICAL DRAMA, "THE FLATS", ABOUT GARLAND'S ORIGINAL BLACK COMMUNITY, TO BE PERFORMED FOR JUNETEENTH OBSERVANCE, JUNE 14 IN DOWNTOWN GARLAND

A re-enactment of a key scene from "The Flats" musical drama, focusing on the history of the Black community that once occupied a portion of downtown Garland, will be presented at Garland's Juneteenth obervancce June 14.

The scene involves a mother and daughter standing on the downtown Square, watching the child's school building being moved from Garland's west end to a new location in downtown Garland, where The Atrium sits today.

Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street, sponsor of "The Flats" musical drama, was asked to perform the scene on the big stage during a break between the band and the DJ. The musical was performed at The Atrium on April 14, 2024, to a sell-out audience. It featured a predominantly Black cast and told the story of the free-standing Black community that had its own businesses, school, homes, and a church in downtown Garland during the days of racial segregation, with focus on the 1930-40s.

The scene and the original song, "What Is This I See?", will be performed by three of the student actors who starred in the trail-blazing performance. The play was developed from oral histories with a group of senior adults that attended school in The Flats at the Garland Colored School.

The Juneteenth celebration will feature music, entertainment, food trucks, and a children's area.

Specific time for the scene to go on stage will be announced at a future date. The performance is free and open to the public. Watch this page and the website, friendsofgarlandshistoricmagic11thst.org, for details.

04/14/2025

Today marks the one-year anniversary of "The Flats: Cradle of a Community" musical drama, performed on stage April 14, 2024, at The Atrium in downtown Garland. What a pleasure it was to work with these talented, earnest, committed individuals and to tell this important story to the community. We were especially thankful to honor Ms. Bettie Giddens Battles only a few weeks before her passing from this earth and to have her present with us that day. Again, thank you to everyone who made this possible and nonprofit Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street for its sponsorship.

01/03/2025

Many will remember Dale Long, one of the distinguished "luminaries" honored at the conclusion of "The Flats" musical drama. He keynotes an upcoming Garland symposium on race relations, along with authentic first-person testimonies about segregation's life-long impact.

GARLANDITE DALE LONG, SURVIVOR OF 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHURCH BOMBING, TO KEYNOTE LOCAL SYMPOSIUM ON SEGREGATION'S LIFELONG IMPACT

Internationally recognized speaker and Garland citizen Dale Long, who has made part of his life's mission to share about his experiences as a survivor of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, headlines an upcoming Garland symposium, "In Their Words", about segregation's lifelong impact on Saturday, February 15.

He and several homegrown Garlandites will tell their stories of growing up during segregation's entrenched days. The event is sponsored by Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street nonprofit. It will be from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at Garland's Granger Center, 1310 West Avenue F.

A charge by his grandmother, adjuring Dale that he was "spared for a purpose" propelled him to travel from coast to coast and overseas to urge audiences to give back to others. For almost five decades he has been a mentor in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters and has been named a National Big Brother of the Year. Regarded as one of the nation's leading spokespersons on the Jim Crow '60s era in American History, he survived the bombing that killed four of his friends and injured 27 other people.

A second feature will be "A Tale of Two Garlands", a frank Q&A session featuring two who walked the same streets and knew some of the same people but who experienced their hometown from sharply different viewpoints. One Black and one white citizen, they will be interviewed by veteran journalist Louis Moore, president of Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street, and Garland Unit NAACP President Ricky McNeal.

Several other Garlandites who came up in the era will be interviewed as well about their experiences.

The event is held in conjunction with the Annual Business Meeting of the Friends organization, which each year endeavors to bring stimulating speakers on cutting-edge issues. The symposium, to be held during Black History Month, is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. A brief presentation on the activities and accomplishments of Friends of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street will occur before the keynote address.

Friends is a nonprofit charitable organization that works for the betterment of Garland through historic preservation, community development, and improvement of Garland's 11th Street as well as the wider downtown area. A secondary purpose is to recognize under-recognized individuals and sites that are part of Garland's history.

For more information email [email protected]

11/12/2024

Three principals from "The Flats" musical drama presented last spring stopped by and bestowed on coordinator Kay Moore this custom-made memory box to store souvenirs. It has photos from the play on all sides and is covered with a print of African design. Leslie Horton Montena, right, who was one of the "Luminaries" at the end of the play, created the box in collaboration with Jan Nosko Alexander, also an actor in "The Flats". Leslie's children Jakary, left, and Mya portrayed students from the Garland Colored School where Black students were educated during the era of The Flats, a free-standing Black community that once existed where the Granville Center and the city hall complex are today. Leslie made available her lovely gallery space, Epiphany Gallery in downtown Garland, for several of The Flats rehearsals.

10/18/2024

So proud of the success of Leslie Horton Montena and her Epiphany Gallery in downtown Garland. She keeps hosting many fabulous events and exhibits in this small, special space. Leslie was one of the "Garland Luminaries" in the concluding scene of "The Flats" musical drama in April. Her two teens, Mya and Jakary, were actors in the play. Here Leslie poses with the sidewalk sandwich board promoting last Saturday's showing of "Saving Magic 11th Street" documentary. Photo by Dawn Hallman