Military 'Roos at Austin College- Part I

 **This is Part I of the military history of Austin College

Like many other American universities in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, in a probable attempt to expand upon the patriarchal control over society while preparing young men for a possible world war among the rising super powers, Austin College fondly adopted a military curriculum. This new era broke ground in the fall of 1889 (forty years after the original college had been founded), when the college Trustees, having seen a rocky decade earlier, decided to turn the college in a military institution that “promoted Discipline and Physical Culture.” Many of the Trustees commonly believed that the polished brass on the uniform belts and the new pomp would appeal to a larger audience of young men who were seeking academic rigor and ‘battlefield’ glory. The Austin College faculty and administration were excited about the pristine era, citing that “Military training has in itself an intrinsic value, but its special object here is to insure prompt, faithful, and manly discharge of duty, healthy exercise, proper personal bearing, neatness of dress, punctuality and respect for and obedience to constituted authority.” Several announcements conforming the college’s curriculum change (as shown in the top right corner) were sent to newspapers in major cities, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.

At the military college, the grounds which Austin College sat upon in the eastern portion of Sherman was defined as the ‘boarding compound.’ Old Main, the principal administration building is pictured here to left. The cadets were required to live on the grounds, where they would study and sleep in the cramped quarters provided for them. The Trustees invested between $800-$1000 of the college’s endowment money in October 1890 on four wooden barracks (two would be used as hospital-type classrooms). Other cadets would find home at local boarding houses or the residences of faculty and staff. Cadets were required to attend all roll calls throughout the day and attend their duties, unless sick or regularly excused. Cadets were also subject to waking up early before the sun rose and ending all activities upon dusk– sleep was vitally important for all the beginners who had to find the perfect niche during a taxing schedule that involved rigorous academics (humanities and military science) and military parading/training. Furthermore, the college cadets were required to obtain a special permit to exit the grounds and travel to the downtown area (1.5 miles from the campus) if they wished to. This permit would only allow the cadet to be gone from the campus for a few hours during the day.

As part of the curriculum, cadets were allowed to wear their own clothes for the first term (what some may have called ‘orientation’), before being required to wear a government standard, gray uniform beginning the second term (shown here on a cadet in 1889). This economical uniform, which was “Made by a responsible clothing house” and comprised of a [“Dress coat cut after the West Point pattern, worn with cadet collar; fatigue coat, close fitting sack, with six buttons, pockets inside only; trousers with watch pocket only, inch and a quarter wide black strip on outer seam, and a cap of dark blue cloth,”] had to be worn every day of the week. According to the college bulletin, “a neat and attractive uniform [including polished brass] is prescribed.” Replacement parts had to be made by a recognized clothing house and sequentially approved by the Commandment. Officers were the only students allowed to carry ceremonial swords. The fatigue coat and trousers cost a cadet $15 or $16, according to the size. The dress coat for formal events was priced at $10, and a cap “of best quality” that sold at $1.50, were both considered great bargains. Buttons were cast from a special die, designed exclusively for Austin College. Appearing out of uniform on roll call was a punishable offense–cadets at Austin College grew more daring in flaunting this rule as the years rolled on.

It is not surprising to note that the military uniform changed over time, much like the college’s physical plant (as discussed in one of my earlier blog posts). The novelty of being handsomely dressed in a military outfit seemed to wear thin among students in the early 1890s. For example, seniors were not required to wear their uniforms at the commencement festivities in the spring of 1893. Faculty members enjoyed wearing the uniforms and encouraged the cadets to follow suite. Each cadet was issued a “sharp military rifle” according to the 1890 college catalog, while the entire ensemble was given “a magnificent regimental flag” by the citizens of Sherman. In the 1894 photograph to the right, seniors pose in their military garb.

A 1890 photograph of the Austin College cadets with their issued rifles. All the college was one regiment.

Student life flourished at the Austin College military institution. Cadets were required to either join the Athenaeum or the Philennoian literary societies. Cadets were not required to join other organizations, though sometimes required to attend such meetings. If a cadet were to get commended in their studies, they would earn automatic qualification to the literary societies. Winners of the college’s literary competitions were awarded with gold medals (a Philennoian medal is pictured at the right). Cadets followed a liberal arts curriculum at the college, similar to the collegiate paths of other students nationwide. The college catalog always noted that the particular arrangement of courses was selected as the subjects “are best suited to give the mind thorough and varied training, and, at the same time, to fill it with the largest store of valuable, practical truths.” Courses in Old English, Bible studies, old languages (including Greek and Latin), modern languages (including Spanish, French, and German) were on a cadet’s daily academic routine. Often, cadets would find time to study during the day in their dormitory or at the school’s library in the administration building (each cadet had to pay a library fee of 50 cents per semester). Study Hall in the evenings (7pm-10pm) was mandatory for each cadet, though senior were often excused from such practice if their monthly grades were above the score of ’80’.

A unnamed cadet studies in his room, photograph taken in off-campus boarding house, c. 1891. 

Information taken from Light Townsend Cummins’s two books on the history of Austin College and photographs are from the Austin College digital archives/Special Collections.