Historic Palestine

College in Corsicana, the team won the 1989
NJCAA National Football Championship. He
earned a degree in criminal justice from the
University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1991 and
joined the Arizona Rattlers in 1993. During
his rookie year with the Rattlers, he won the
Arena Football League’s MVP award. In 1997
he earned Ironman honors and set the record
for touchdown returns in 2000. By 2002, he
had scored 1,000 points in his career and
was named the League’s All-Time Leader in
kickoff returns in 2003. Cooper was also the
fifth man in pro football history to hit a 20,000
career all-purpose yard mark. In 2005 he
celebrated a twelve-year career as a receiverlinebacker
with the Arizona Rattlers and the
Arena Football League and his #14 jersey was
retired. Today, Cooper is a high school football
coach in Las Vegas.
Sandra Cummings Glover, the daughter of
T. A. and Eunice Cummings, graduated from
Palestine High School in 1987 where she
lettered in basketball and track. She earned a
degree in elementary education from the
University of Houston in 1988 and was on the
Women’s Track and Field All-American Team in
1991. She won qualifying heats in 2000 and
2003 for the United States Olympic Team
competing in the 400-meter hurdles and won
Olympic track and field trials in the Women’s
400-meter hurdles at Sydney, Australia. She
placed third in the finals at the USA Outdoor
Track and Field Championships in California. In
2002, the City of Houston honored her with
“Sandra Glover Day.”
Portia Hill Hatten graduated from Palestine
High School in 1986 and played basketball for
Trinity Valley Community College, where she
received the John Naismith Award for Best
Junior College Women’s Player in America.
She later attended Stephen F. Austin University
and won many awards before being named
Kodak All-American Team, honoring the ten
best players in America. After college, Portia
played in the Italian and French leagues
throughout Europe and was inducted in the
SFA Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. The City of
Palestine held a “Portia Hill Day” in honor of
her achievements.
Guy Brown graduated from Palestine High
School, where he played running back, in 1973.
At the University of Houston, he played
defensive end and was a linebacker for the
Dallas Cowboys. He retired from professional
sports in 1983.
M C K N I G H T
P L A Z A
In 1876, two businessmen, J. B. McKnight
and J. H. Mead, erected a building on the corner
❖
Left: Keith Crawford.
COURTESY OF JUNE MCCOY.
Below: Hernandez “Hunkie” Cooper.
COURTESY OF JUNE MCCOY.
C h a p t e r V I I ✦ 4 7