NTMWD 2025 Summer

Birmingham Scholarship celebrating 75 years

by | Mar 15, 2023 | Latest

The Birmingham Scholarship program is recognizing its impact on students that began 75 years ago when it awards this year’s scholarships later this month.

A reception to recognize the 2023 scholars — in addition to any winners from the past 75 years — will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27 at the Montgomery Center at Wylie High School. The program has impacted 790 students, including the 20 winners this year, since its inception in 1948. Past scholarship recipients are invited to attend the March 27 ceremony as well.

The Birmingham Scholarship Fund was first established in 1947 by T.F. Birmingham, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, native acting on the wishes of his deceased sister Pearl Birmingham, who died in 1946. Pearl left 1,000 shares of common stock in the Standard Oil Company of Ohio to fund scholarship awards to graduating Wylie ISD seniors.

A lifelong educator, Pearl worked for the school district teaching first and second grade students. After leaving Wylie to teach in Dallas, she continued impacting the lives of young students in North Texas.

When the scholarship was formed, its charter read “it is the hope and the intention of the donor that this scholarship shall redound to the benefit of the students of the T.F. Birmingham High School of Wylie, Collin County, Texas, from generation to generation even until time shall be no more.”

Harvey Moore, the valedictorian of the Class of 1948 that had only 27 members, received the first Birmingham Scholarship, which paid him a total of $1,000 for four years of a college education. Moore received the payments on a schedule of $25 per month and went on to become an architect.

Over the years, the value of the Standard Oil Company stock shares increased as did the number of seniors, which currently sits around 1,300. The life of the scholarship has seen over $6.2 million awarded to the 790 scholars.

In 1987, the future of the scholarship was in jeopardy because the Standard Oil Company was acquired by BP North America. By that point, Wylie ISD held 24,168 shares with a value of nearly $1.7 million.

For the full story, see the March 15 issue of The Wylie News.

Collin Summer 2025

Deprecated: Creation of dynamic property ET_Builder_Module_Comments::$et_pb_unique_comments_module_class is deprecated in /home/csmediatexas/wylienews/wp-content/themes/Divi/includes/builder/class-et-builder-element.php on line 1380

0 Comments

Subscribe RH Love

Related News

Operation targeted online child exploitation

Operation targeted online child exploitation

Operation Soteria Shield was conducted in April resulting in the rescue of 109 children and arrest of 244 offenders. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and advocacy groups completed a month-long collaborative enforcement effort aimed at...

read more
Local legislators recap session

Local legislators recap session

Two Texas House members from Collin County take pride in what lawmakers accomplished in the 89th Legislature that ended this month. “The only item we are required to pass each session is the state budget,” said Rep. Jeff Leach. “I’m proud to say that the budget we...

read more
County returning to hand-marked paper ballots

County returning to hand-marked paper ballots

Paper ballots for upcoming Collin County elections contain oval bubbles that voters will fill in by hand. Starting with November’s general election, Collin County voters will be going back to the future. Collin County commissioners have agreed to return to hand-marked...

read more
Board appointments at council

Board appointments at council

Wylie City Council kicked off its June 11 meeting with a round of recognitions, honoring a Wylie Way student, celebrating In-Sync Exotics for its contributions and applauding the municipal clerk’s office for earning the Achievement of Excellence Award. A proclamation...

read more
Wylie East Year in Review: Fall Sports 2024

Wylie East Year in Review: Fall Sports 2024

Wylie East alumna Erika Hernandez fires the ball around the hands of Wylie senior Peyton Stade during a District 9-6A volleyball match on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from Montgomery Center. Hernandez was later named the district’s most valuable player. Photo by Maddie Smith /...

read more
Potential measles exposure in Collin County

Potential measles exposure in Collin County

Collin County Health Care Services has been notified that an individual who spent time in Collin County from Saturday, May 31, through Sunday, June 1, has tested positive for measles. The individual visited two public venues while infectious: • Lemma Coffee Company,...

read more
Three charged in local burglary

Three charged in local burglary

The Wylie Police Department has charged three teen-agers in connection with the burglary of a convenience store, a police spokesman said.  Sgt. Donald English said an 18-year-old man and two juveniles have been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity...

read more
Order photos