Texas AMC and WWI

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Texas AMC and World War I. Now settle in, because this story reaches further than you might expect. When most folks picture a college during wartime, they picture empty classrooms and a flag at half-mast.

But the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, it turns out, didn't wait around for history to come calling. It went out and met it halfway. As early as September 1914, before the United States had entered the war at all, Georges Pierre Ferdinand Jouine, class of 1907, had already enlisted as a private in the French army.

A student of this Texas college, serving another nation's cause. That's where this story starts. By March 1917, the school had offered its programs and facilities for use during the war.

And by December 1917, TAMC was officially designated a U.S. Army training base. So alongside the regular instruction of its college students, the place transformed into something else entirely.

Three separate lines of intensive military training, running all at once. The first: soldiers reported in December 1917 to train as radio mechanics. They were assigned to Goodwin Hall as their barracks, and they received technical instruction from the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Picture those halls, normally full of students puzzling over coursework, now full of men learning to keep the lines of war humming. The second line of training, a service training detachment of auto mechanics and carpenters, was up and running by summer 1918. And the third, well, the third is something worth slowing down for.

The Signal Corps School of Meteorology was established in May 1918 to train men for aviation, gas and flame attacks, bombing expeditions, and many other military and naval operations. It operated out of the Civil Engineering building. And here is the part that ought to make you sit up a little straighter: it was the only school of its kind among allied nations during the entire war.

Not the only one in Texas. Not the only one in the South. The only one among all the allied nations.

With the U.S. calling on male faculty to serve, something happened inside the college that had never happened before in its history. For the first time, women served on the faculty, teaching botany and French. And if all that wasn't enough, September 1918 brought an influenza outbreak to the college and community.

They kept going anyway, supporting liberty bond drives and increasing agricultural production until the war finally ended. When the accounting was done, more than 2,200 Aggies had served. At least 62 made the supreme sacrifice.

Students, faculty, citizens. A community that gave everything it had, starting with one man enlisting as a private in a foreign army in 1914, and not stopping until the last shot was fired. That's a college that knew what it stood for.

What the marker says

World War I allowed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas to expand beyond military training and directly contribute to the war effort with staff and students volunteering for service in large numbers. Students first served for other countries before the U.S. entered the war. As early as Sept. 1914, Georges Pierre Ferdinand Jouine, class of 1907, enlisted as a private in the French army. In Mar. 1917, the school offered their programs and facilities for use during the war. By Dec. 1917, TAMC was designated a U.S. Army training base. Along with the normal instruction of its college students, the college became a base for three lines of intensive military training. In Dec. 1917, soldiers reported to train as radio mechanics. They were assigned to Goodwin Hall as their barracks, and received technical instruction from the Department of Electrical Engineering. The service training detachment of auto mechanics and carpenters was in operation by summer 1918. The third area of training was in the Signal Corps School of Meteorology, established in May 1918 to train men for aviation, gas and flame attacks, bombing expeditions and many other military and naval operations. The school operated out of the Civil Engineering building and was the only one of its kind among allied nations during the war. With the U.S. Calling on the male faculty to serve, for the first time in the college's history women served on the faculty, teaching botany and French. Despite an influenza outbreak in Sept. 1918, the college and community continued their support through liberty bond drives and increasing agricultural production until the war ended. More than 2,200 Aggies served, with at least 62 making the supreme sacrifice from a dedicated community of students, faculty and citizens during a time of war.