DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at this Austin site tells the story — and it's one worth hearing. On July 15, 1882, a group of Texas attorneys gathered in Galveston with a shared conviction: that the law in this state deserved order, consistency, and a unified voice. They called themselves the Texas Bar Association, and they elected Judge Thomas J.
Devine as their first president. Now, this was a volunteer organization — nobody was required to join, nobody was compelled to show up — but show up they did, year after year, meeting annually to wrestle with the big questions. Uniformity of jurisprudence.
The shape of legislation. How lawyers ought to conduct themselves across this enormous, sprawling state. For decades, that association carried those concerns on its back.
Then came 1939. Governor W. Lee O'Daniel signed an act of the State Legislature, and just like that, the State Bar of Texas was born — a proper state agency, with a clear and serious purpose: to place every single person practicing law in Texas under one set of uniform rules and regulations.
No exceptions, no carve-outs. One year later, in 1940, the old Texas Bar Association merged with this new agency, and the work continued under first President Angus Wynne, carrying forward all the traditions and goals those Galveston attorneys had set in motion nearly sixty years before. The agency's first office took root in the Littlefield Building, right there at Sixth and Congress.
But since 1953, it has called this site home. Guided by an elected board of directors, a president, and a president elect, and run day to day by an executive director and a full staff, the State Bar has quietly been one of the most consequential institutions in Texas law. Over a hundred years of professional organizations, from that volunteer gathering in Galveston to a statewide agency — and every attorney in Texas has practiced in the shadow of that July day in 1882.
What the marker says
On July 15, 1882, a volunteer organization of Texas attorneys known as the Texas Bar Association, was established in Galveston, with Judge Thomas J. Devine as the first president. The forerunner of the State Bar of Texas, the group met annually to address common concerns such as the uniformity of jurisprudence, legislation, the regulation of the conduct of lawyers, and other statewide legal matters. An act of the State Legislature signed by Governor W. Lee O'Daniel in 1939 created the State Bar of Texas. Its purpose was to place all persons practicing law in the state under uniform rules and regulations. After the Bar Association merged with the new state agency in 1940, members of the State Bar, under the direction of first President Angus Wynne, continued to carry out the association’s traditions and goals. While the agency’s first office was located in the Littlefield Building at Sixth and Congress, it has been at this site since 1953. Guided by an elected board of directors, a president, and president elect, the State Bar is operated on a daily basis by an executive director and a full staff. For over 100 years these professional organizations have played unique roles in the state's legal history. (1985)