Wesley-Rankin’s Origins
Two branches – Earliest Starts in 1902On June 5, 1902, at First Methodist Church of Dallas, originally located on the corner of Commerce and St. Paul, Mrs. L.H. Potts called together 18 women from the six existing churches. The result of this meeting was the formation of the Greater Dallas Board of City Missions. By September 1902, they employed the first settlement worker, Estelle Haskin, to minister to immigrants.
Services Begin to Grow
In 1906, the Greater Dallas Board was operating a settlement home near what is now known as the Historic West End in Dallas. Settlement houses are largely considered to be “the forerunners of neighborhood centers”. Most settlement houses were modeled after the Hull House in Chicago which was founded by 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. At this Dallas settlement house, a Mother’s Club was formed by Mrs. Henry Dorsey, who was a charter member of the Dallas Board of City Missions and succeeded Mrs. L.H. Potts as President. The estate of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dorsey would eventually go on to build the foundation of the Wesley-Rankin Trust Fund.
Wesley House staff member advocates for change
In 1910, unrest from the Mexican Revolution caused many Mexicans to move to the “Little Mexico” portion of Dallas, located approximately in the present area of Akard Street. Some immigrants stayed temporarily. Some stayed permanently. Recognizing that those who stayed merited resources, in 1915, an employee of Wesley House and Chapel named Deaconess Rhoda Dragoo won the right of Mexican children to attend Dallas Public School.
"The Angel of Floyd Street"
In 1930, the work of the Greater Dallas Board expanded into East Dallas with creation of a second mission – the “Floyd Street Methodist Mission”. This mission provided kindergarten, clubs for children and mothers, as well as Sunday school services.It was there that the selfless, altruistic work of Maria Moreno would earn her the nickname “The Angel of Floyd Street”, sometimes also called “The Mother of Floyd Street”. Her immense empathy for young Latinx children was said to have stemmed from the time she was orphaned at age 5 in Mexico and had to scrub school floors to keep her scholarship. According to Kenneth Force, “When she finished [school], she decided to give others what she had gotten so painfully.”
The West Dallas Branch of History Begins
As mentioned, Wesley-Rankin has two “branches” of history, and 1935 begins the West Dallas branch. Hattie Rankin crossed the Trinity River in a Ford pickup truck to West Dallas, which was then called Eagle Ford Heights. She ministered to Mrs. Steven Davis, mother of Floyd and Ray Hamilton, who were members of the Bonnie and Clyde gang. While present with Mrs. Davis on the night of Ray’s execution, Hattie agreed to raise money for his burial. On June 23, 1935, there was a formal opening of the Eagle Ford Heights Mission at 3017 Crossman.
Eagle Ford Heights Mission
12 Years After its StartAfter Hattie Rankin Moore married in 1937, she moved to Houston with her husband and asked the Greater Dallas Board of City Missions to take over her work. When she returned to West Dallas 12 years later, Hattie Rankin found that the foundation of her work had grown substantially. The Rankin Community Center now had a gym, the first in West Dallas. The Center also hosted a pastor’s residence, church building, club room, library, workshop, and playground.
West Dallas is Annexed
In the 1950s, there were three missions of the Greater Dallas Board: 1) Wesley Community Center at 2502 North Akard; 2) Latin-American Methodist Center off Vine and Laclede; and 3) Rankin Community Center at 3000 Crossman. Dallas annexed West Dallas in 1954. At this time, Rankin Chapel and Center was operating childcare and other programs for those in the area.
The Louis Strickland Gymnasium
The first Boy Scout troop at Wesley-Rankin (then called the Rankin Center) was started by Eagle Scout Louis Strickland in 1958. In 1963, he became ill and opted into having one of the first kidney transplantations in Southwest America. While the surgery was initially successful, Louis died from respiratory failure and heart valve endocarditis. His work in West Dallas was honored in 1987 by the rebranding of our gymnasium (“The Louis Strickland Gymnasium”). The gym was built in 1941 and renovated through a gift from Mrs. L. Rumsay Strickland in 1987.
The Willena Henry Scholarship Fund
In 1965, a scholarship fund was established at Rankin Center by the Women’s Society at University Park United Methodist Church in honor of Ms. Willena Henry. Her relevant service to Wesley-Rankin includes 14 years as deaconess where she taught English classes. Prior to Wesley-Rankin, she had a life of service in the Methodist church, including multiple years in rural Arkansas and the coal-mining region of Oklahoma. Throughout her 90 years, she remained a vocal education advocate. To this day, the University Park United Methodist Women make an annual contribution to this scholarship fund in her name.
75 Years of Service
For the 75th anniversary, this was the first use of the logo designed by Dani Aguilla. As noted in the book, Mission Milestones of the North Texas Conference, the outer part of the logo is two letter “C’s”, forming a circle and standing for Christian unity. The circle is intentionally not closed, leaving space for the entry of all people and new ideas. “Inside, the letters “WR” in brown form a multi-branched stump indicating the long history in many locations and many types of service; from the stumps grow new green twigs, symbolizing God’s nurture through life-affirming programs. The new branch embodies the growth of individuals as they branch out to the productive lives of service.”
Re-engaging Old Programs
This was the year that Esperanza del Rosario (Espie) retired from being Director. Having been a teacher in the Wesley-Rankin kindergarten in 1972, she knew of the neighborhood’s need for day care. She was instrumental in reactivating the detailed licensing procedure and supervised the painting and carpeting of the Rankin Chapel rooms. On November 7, 1984, Espie was honored at a farewell party where the preschoolers crowned her Queen-For-A-Day. 77 people attended the party and the preschoolers provided the entertainment. Espie would go on to join her husband in the Philippines, their original home.
Building campaign launch
The rapid urbanization and shifting landscape of Dallas pressed the Greater Dallas Board to condense and merge resources, so it was decided that three locations would become one. But in order to retain our history, the new location’s name would be hyphenated as “Wesley-Rankin” so that Wesley House and Chapel and Rankin Community Center can be seen as a merger. Jimmy Davis (Building Fund Chair), along with Charles Cullum as honorary chairman, launched the drive for a new building in 1985.
Crossman Avenue Groundbreaking
On February 10, 1988, ground was broken for our new building in West Dallas. Our main building (3100 Crossman) is named the Jimmy Davis Building for his significant work that allowed us to open a debt free facility and double the service capacity.
A well-known Pastor’s Early Roots
In the summer of 1989, Reverend Kathleen Baskin- Ball was appointed to lead the congregation at Casa Feliz on the Wesley-Rankin campus. This church would be called “Nueva Esperanza”. Kathleen Baskin-Ball was revered in the community for being a nurturing and empathetic presence in West Dallas. She would go on to receive national attention for her youth ministry.
The Launch of the Bridge to College Scholarship program
In 1994, WRCC Director, Sarah Wilke, contacts her brother, Southern College Dean of Students Steve Wilke, to create Bridge to College, a program that partners high school students with mentors and provides the students with scholarship opportunities. Bridge to College operates to this day and distributes five scholarships per year to West Dallas students.
First STEAM Camp in West Dallas
This year marks the first summer STEAM camp for students in West Dallas. Now called B3X (Beakers, Base 10, and the Beat), Wesley-Rankin’s annual energizing summer enrichment camp provides expansive, hands-on learning experiences to reinforce core learning in science, math, art and reading.
For the People of West Dallas
In conjunction with other organizations like the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), Wesley-Rankin was on the front lines during the 2017 Housing Crisis in West Dallas. We hosted resident-only meetings to empower neighbors to find solidarity during the turmoil and to foster collaborative solutions, driven by people that actually live in West Dallas.
A New Program
Through their partnership and guidance, Wesley-Rankin is the first organization to replicate the June Shelton model for learning differences in Dallas. When the program launched in 2018, there were 8 students enrolled. As of the 2021-2022 school year, there were 28 students.
