Wichita Falls Junior College

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Wichita Falls Junior College. Now, Texas has always had a way of doing things before the law catches up, and this story is a fine example. Private junior colleges had been operating in Texas before the 1900s, sure enough, but public ones, those took a little longer.

The first public junior college in the state got its start right here in Wichita Falls in 1922. Seven years, mind you, before Texas even passed the legislation to make such a thing official. The state hadn't sanctioned it yet, but Wichita Falls wasn't waiting around.

Under the direction of Superintendent Randolph Lee Clark, the city school system opened those doors. Fifty-five students walked in. Ten teachers were ready for them.

Seven subjects on the curriculum. And class was held right there in the high school building, on this very site. Now, a school that started that scrappy deserved a proper home eventually.

Planning for a separate campus began in 1928, and that's when two names enter the story that folks around here would not soon forget. John G. Hardin and his wife Mary, educational philanthropists out of Burkburnett, stepped forward with a matching grant for construction of new facilities.

Then, despite the economic depression of the 1930s bearing down on everybody, the necessary funds were raised. Two local residents, W. B.

Hamilton and N. H. Martin, donated another site entirely.

The community was not going to let this thing die. The school was renamed Hardin Junior College, in honor of its benefactors, and by 1938 the new buildings were completed and the institution had relocated. Then the 1940s brought another transformation, as the school became a state-supported four-year college.

And in 1950 it was renamed again, this time Midwestern University. What started as fifty-five students in a borrowed hallway grew into something the marker calls an instrumental factor in the growth and development of Wichita Falls. Texas doing things first, and the paperwork catching up later.

What the marker says

Although private junior colleges were operating in Texas before the 1900s, similar public institutions were not started until the 1920s. The first, Wichita Falls Junior College, began here in 1922, seven years before the adoption of related state legislation. Developed as part of the city school system under the direction of Superintendent Randolph Lee Clark, it opened with fifty-five students, ten teachers, and a curriculum of seven subjects. Early classes were held in the high school building at this site. Planning for a separate junior college campus began in 1928 when Burkburnett educational philanthropists John G. Hardin and his wife Mary offered a matching grant for construction of new facilities. Despite the economic depression of the 1930s, the necessary funds were raised and another site was donated by local residents W. B. Hamilton and N. H. Martin. Renamed Hardin Junior College in honor of the school's benefactors, the institution was relocated by 1938 when the new buildings were completed. In the 1940s the school became a state-supported four-year college. Renamed Midwestern University in 1950, it has been an instrumental factor in the growth and development of Wichita Falls. (1981)