Texas Bar Association

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1882, a group of independent lawyers and representatives from forty-six Texas law firms decided the Lone Star State needed something bigger than a handshake and a shared opinion on the law. So they called a meeting, and on July 15 of that year, at a place called the Electric Pavilion in Galveston, they organized the Texas Bar Association.

Right there, south of where this marker stands. The Electric Pavilion. Even the name sounds like something destiny arranged on purpose.

J. H. McLeary of San Antonio served as first chairman, and Thomas J.

Devine, also of San Antonio, was first president. Two men from the same city, steering a ship that the whole state of Texas would one day have to board. The goals they set down were not small ones: advance the science of jurisprudence, promote uniformity of legislation in the administration of justice, uphold the honor of the legal profession, and encourage cordial interchange among members.

Cordial interchange. Lawyers. Now that's the ambitious part.

Come the early nineteen-twenties, the association had its eye on something even bigger: the formation of a State Bar, one that every lawyer practicing in Texas would be required to join and support. That task took years of pushing. It took patience the way only lawyers know patience, which is to say relentless and well-documented.

Then in 1939, Governor W. Lee O'Daniel signed the legislation creating the State Bar of Texas, and just like that, the dream had a deed. Angus Wynne, who was president of the Texas Bar Association at the time, became the first president of the new State Bar.

And here is where the story turns a little bittersweet. The Texas Bar Association, having done the one thing it had been building toward for decades, ceased operations. Its final meeting was held in Fort Worth in July of 1940, where it merged with the State Bar.

The organization that started in a pavilion lit up like the future simply walked its work to the finish line, handed it over, and stepped aside. That is a rare thing in this world. Most institutions cling.

This one knew when it was done.

What the marker says

Independent lawyers and representatives from 46 Texas law firms called a meeting in 1882 to create a statewide association. They organized the Texas Bar Association at the Electric Pavilion in Galveston (south of this site) on July 15. J. H. McLeary of San Antonio served as first chairman and Thomas J. Devine, also of San Antonio, was first president. The stated goals of the association were to advance the science of jurisprudence, promote uniformity of legislation in the administration of justice in the state, uphold the honor of the legal profession, and encourage cordial interchange among members. The association's primary task in the early 1920s was the formation of a State Bar, which every lawyer practicing in Texas would be required to join and support. This goal was achieved in 1939, when Gov. W. Lee O'Daniel signed legislation creating the State Bar of Texas. Angus Wynne, president of the Texas Bar Association, became the first president of the State Bar. The Texas Bar Association ceased operations soon after the creation of the State Bar. The association held its final meeting in Fort Worth in July 1940, at which time it merged with the State Bar.