DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about East Texas State University, out here in Hunt County. Settle in, because this one's got some ground to cover. It starts in 1889, in Cooper, Texas — sixteen miles northeast of where we're sitting right now in Commerce — with something called the Mayo School.
A man named William Leonidas Mayo, born in 1861, a gifted teacher who'd come up out of Kentucky, had himself a vision. The school was privately his, and he ran it that way. Then comes 1894, and the Mayo School reopens right here in Commerce — not in some grand hall, mind you, but in a brick store on the public square.
About thirty-five students. Still under Mayo's private ownership. Local citizens, the public-spirited kind, stepped up to help underwrite it.
That detail right there — ordinary people putting their shoulder behind an idea — is worth pausing on. Now, among those early students walking through those doors was a young man named Sam Rayburn, born in 1882. You want to talk about a story that grows into something bigger than its beginnings — Sam Rayburn went on to gain international fame as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
The marker calls him the school's most illustrious student, and it's hard to argue the point. William Leonidas Mayo passed in 1917 — the same year the school itself passed out of private hands and into state ownership, becoming East Texas State Normal College, with Randolph B. Binnion serving as president.
Then in 1923, the name changed again — East Texas State Teachers College. Three presidents would guide it under that name: Sam H. Whitley, whose tenure ran from 1924 to 1946, followed by Arthur C.
Ferguson from 1946 to 1947, and then James G. Gee from 1947 to 1966. In 1957, they dropped the word "teachers" from the title.
And in 1965, it became what the marker calls it — East Texas State University. The following year, 1966, D. Whitney Halladay succeeded to the presidency.
By the time this marker was set down, East Texas State University had more than twenty-six thousand graduates. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees in arts and science, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree as well. The campus stretches across twelve hundred acres with a hundred and fifty buildings on it.
It stands as one of twenty-three state-supported colleges and universities in Texas — a system enrolling over a hundred and fifty thousand students every single year. What started as about thirty-five students in a brick store on the square has grown into something that would be hard to imagine from that public square in 1894. Though maybe William Leonidas Mayo could imagine it.
Gifted teachers sometimes can.
What the marker says
Founded 1889 as the Mayo School, in Cooper (16 mi. NE). Reopened with about 35 students in a brick store on the public square here in Commerce in 1894, still under private ownership of William Leonidas Mayo (1861-1917), a gifted teacher from Kentucky. School was underwritten by public-spirited local citizens. Its most illustrious student, Sam Rayburn (1882-1961), gained international fame as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The Mayo School passed into state ownership in 1917 as East Texas State Normal College, Randolph B. Binnion, president. After name was changed (1923) to East Texas State Teachers College, presidents were Sam H. Whitley (1924-1946), Arthur C. Ferguson (1946-1947) and James G. Gee (1947-1966). The word "teachers" was dropped from the title in 1957; in 1965, it became East Texas State University. In 1966, D. Whitney Halladay succeeded to the presidency. East Texas State University has more than 26,000 graduates. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees in arts and science; also the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Its 1200-acre campus has 150 buildings. It is one of 23 state-supported colleges and universities in Texas enrolling over 150,000 students annually.