"CONTRARY TO POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS, there is nothing 'historically unclear'* about the connection between Matthew Gaines and the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. In April of 1871 while serving as a senator representing the 16th district in the 12th Texas Legislature, Gaines, and every other legislator of African descent, voted for Senate Bill No. 276 that allowed Texas to take advantage of the 1862 Land Grant College Act. This Republican party inspired program set aside several million acres of federal land for the support of agricultural and industrial higher education. (The 1871 bill to establish the A. and M. College of Texas obligated the creation, if state officials chose to segregate white form black students, of another federally supported land-grant school for blacks, which subsequently became Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College.) Nor do scholars in any reputable university or college today deny or disparage the accomplishments of Texans of African, Mexican, and German ancestry who after the Civil War tried to build an interracial democracy on the ashes of slavery. The leadership role during Reconstruction played by Matthew Gaines in establishing Texas' first state supported public school system and first venture into higher education for all Texans is a matter of public record."
“As members of the university faculty, we have an obligation to say what we know and to support what we believe is correct. Because our university will soon enter the 21st century, it is a fitting time to look back to the enabling legislation passed in 1871. Indeed, “Vision 2020” represents a commitment to academic excellence that will magnify our school’s unique origins. In a university rich with tradition, and as the first public institution of higher learning in our state, it is appropriate to honor our beginnings a century and a quarter ago, and to commemorate the early steps for a free public education for all Texans. Because we stand today as the nation's only federal land, sea, and space grant university, we encourage all Aggies to look back with pride to our beginnings, when courageous and farsighted Texas legislators, both black and white, came together to establish the "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas."
Signed by:
Ben E. Aguirre
Professor of Sociology
Armando C. Alonzo
Assistant Professor of History
Sara Alpern
Associate Professor
Harriette Andreadis
Associate Professor of English
Judith A. Baer
Professor of Political Science
Dennis A. Berthold
Professor of English
Walter L. Buenger
Associate Professor of History
Jon R. Bond
Professor of Political Science
Daniel E. Bornstein
Associate Professor of History, and Director, Religious Studies Program
James C. Bradford
Associate Professor of History
Albert S. Broussard
Associate Professor of History and Elton P. Lewis Faculty Fellow
John Canup
Associate Professor of History
Jonathan Coopersmith
Associate Professor of History
Joseph G. Dawson
Associate Professor of History, and Director, Military Studies Institute
Chester Dunning
Associate Professor of History
Marian Eide
Assistant Professor of English
Susan B. Egenolf
Lecturer in English
Roy B. Flemming
Professor of Political Science
Maria-Cristina Garcia
Associate Professor of History
Cecelia E. Hawkins
Senior Lecturer in English
Patricia A. Hurley
Professor of Political Science
M. Jimmie Killingsworth
Professor of English
Arnold P. Krammer
Professor of History
Pamela R. Matthews
Associate Professor of English, and Director, Women’s Studies Program
John J. McDermott
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
Kenneth J. Meier
Professor of Political Science and Holder of the Charles Puryear Professorship
Ernest Obadele-Starks
Assistant Professor of History
Paul A. Parrish
Professor of English
Marco Portales
Professor of English
Robert P. Resch
Associate Professor of History
James M. Rosenheim
Associate Professor of History
Richard W. Stadelmann
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Humanities
Anthony N. Stranges
Associate Professor of History
C. Jan Swearingen
Professor of English
Lynne M. Vallone
Associate Professor of English
Paul P. Van Riper
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Larry W. Yarak
Associate Professor of History
Danny Yeager
Professor of Chemistry
[*] "Historically unclear: Despite debate among scholars, role of black senator in A&M founding gains support among students," The Battalion, November 10, 1998. The Battalion endorsed the movement to commemorate the accomplishments of Gaines in an earlier editorial: "Matthew Gaines: The former senator deserves recognition for his contributions," The Battalion (July 27, 1995), p. 5. The Matthew Gaines Memorial Committee was originally formed in 1994 to support a statue of State Senator Matthew Gaines for Texas A&M University. The statue would honor Senator Gaines' contributions to the establishment of free public education and the passage of the legislation which allowed the State of Texas to accept the Morrill Land Grant College Act. The following statement describes Matthew Gaines and his accomplishments: