Texana A. Castle
Born	1865 (1865) Texas
Died	1930 (aged 66–67) Texas
Nationality	American
Other names	T. A. Castles, Texana Childress
Occupation(s)	social worker, missionary
Years active	1906-1921
Known for	founding the Bryan Colored Rescue Home

Texana A. Castle (née Childress; 1863-1930) was an African-American Baptist, who lived in Bryan, Texas for most of her life. She was affiliated with Baptist missionary projects and founded the Bryans Colored Rescue Home in the mostly African-American community of Boonville, Texas.

Texana A. Childress was born in March 1863 in Texas.^[1] Little is known of her early life, other than that she had a brother, J. L. Sample, who also lived in the Cottonwood area near Bryan, Texas.^[2] She could read and write, but had not attended school.^[1][3] On May 2, 1885 in Bryan, Childress married Jefferson D. Castle,^[4] (1855-1940) who had been a slave in Louisiana before moving to Brazos County, Texas and becoming a prominent landholder.^[1][5] The couple had 12 children, but only 6 were living by the 1910 census.^[4][3]

In 1905 there was a call from the African-American community in Bryan to build an industrial school and colored orphans home.^[6] In the early part of the following year, the "Fathers and Mothers Protection Society", founded by Castle and located in Bryan obtained a charter from the state.^[4][7] Within a month, eleven acres of land had been purchased by the society on Harvey Street, along "the southeast line of the old Boonville town tract".^[4] By September, ground had been broken, for the planned institution.^[8] A nine-room two-story residence was constructed and the cornerstone was laid by the following summer.^[9][10] Castle served as the administrator of the home, but did not live there, as she and her husband were farmers and kept a separate home.^[3][11][12]

The Bryan Colored Rescue Home operated as a training institute to teach farming skills and morals to black youths. The residents raised crops for their own use, and planted cotton on rented fields as cash crops.^[11][13] Resident managers, which in the early days included Castle's daughter Mary Palmer, lived on site and taught at the school.^[14][15] Castle traveled to raise funds for the organization and spoke at many conventions throughout the state, as well as various churches.^{[16][17][18][19]} In 1913, it was reported that six thousand dollars had been raised for the home.^[10] After thirty-seven years in Bryan, the couple moved to Big Springs, Texas in the early 1920s.^[20]

Castle died in 1930.^[4][21] The home she founded continued operating for around a decade after Castle left Bryan, but finally closed in 1933 and the orphans who were residents at that time were relocated.^[22]