University of Texas - Cactus Yearbook

“" Yes, sir, when these limbs of mine shall totter from the infirmities of age, I want to lean upon my boys, and be enabled, in the fullness of a joyous heart to say, these are Texas made, Texas reared and Texas educated . . . " Representative Pleasant Williams Kittrell Grimes, Walker and Madison Counties, Seventh Legislature, 1857 Sixty years before the cornerstone of the Main University Building was laid, Stephen F. Austin was pleading for the colonization rights of Texas which had originally been granted to his father, Moses Austin. Austin carried a document which he had written entitled " Project for a Constitution For the Republic of Mexico. " Modeled after the Con- stitution of the United States, the document reflected Austin ' s expec- tation that the Mexican government act promptly to establish " schools, academies, and colleges for the education of youth. " While the Mexican government did nothing towards achieving these goals, the Texas Declaration of Independence drafted in 1836 enforced Texas ' commitment to educating its youth. On March 17, 1836, delegates to the Washington, Texas, convention approved the constitution that declared " it shall be the duty of Congress, ... to pro- vide by law a general system of public education. " Working under the impetus of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, the Congress in 1839 approved an act providing for the selection of a site for the permanent seat of government which was to be named Austin. A selection commission, appointed by Lamar, was also delegated the responsibility of partitioning sites for a capitol and a university within the selected area. On April 13, 1839, the commissioners reported that they had chosen a tract of 7,735 acres " adjoining and having a front upon the Colorado River. " Now, whenever the topic of establishing a university w ould come up in Congress, Austin could offer its appointed " College Hill " as an admirable location for the state institution. Blanketed by massive live oaks and elm trees, College Hill remained unoccupied for several years. In 1855, the Texas Know-Nothing Party celebrated its political victories on the hill with a barbecue. General Sam Houston, an early opponent of the University, made a speech during the festivities, making him the first guest speaker on campus. Houston harbored the belief that " the university idea " was " a project favoring the rich at the expense of the poor. " The sentiments of Houston and his like-thinking contemporaries very likely postponed the organization of The University for many years. Modeled after the U.S. Constitution, Austin ' s version contained an education clause. Stephen Austin, son of pioneer. Moses Austin, saw the need for a formal education. The University ' s First Century 5 ”