Austin Couple Preserves 1968 Home with Civil Rights Legacy

In 1968, Dr. Sidney White Jr., a dentist, and his wife, Helen White, an educator and community activist, set out to build their dream house in the Austin neighborhood of Westover Hills. As a Black couple, they faced rejection from multiple builders due to the area's history of segregation. One builder offered a conditional agreement: if they obtained permission from white neighbors, he might build for them. The Whites refused, seeing it as an affront to their dignity. Eventually, builder Walter Carrington agreed to construct their home on Azalea Trail, marking the first house in this whites-only section built for a Black family. The house was completed under the spirit of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and Austin's Fair Housing Ordinance, though Carrington faced backlash from the real estate community.

Alta and Lamont Alexander, the current owners, have preserved the home and its history. Lamont, Helen White’s godson, comes from a long line of Austin-area residents, including his great-great-grandfather Daniel Alexander, a formerly enslaved person who established the Alexander Farm in 1879. Lamont renovated his grandparents' farmhouse in 2005, maintaining a connection to his family’s legacy. Alta, a Smithville native, has worked to highlight African American history, including securing a Texas Historical Marker for the Whites' home.

Dr. Sidney White, a Howard University graduate, became Austin’s first African American member and later president of the Austin Dental Society. Helen White, an educator, advocated for racial equality and hosted Black professionals in their home, fostering Austin’s growing Black middle class. Their influence is commemorated on the historical marker outside their house: "Within its historic walls, Dr. Sidney and Helen White changed the social dynamic of Austin."

After Helen White’s death in 2015, Lamont inherited the home, which she had kept meticulously organized. The Alexanders continue to honor the Whites' legacy, preserving a key piece of civil rights history in Austin.