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| A black-and-white drawing of Whitley Hall before it was built, c. 1966. I was Whitley Hall's community director between 2018 and 2020. (Author's collections) |
I worked in the housing department at Texas A&M University-Commerce for 3 years (2018-2021) and thoroughly enjoyed my job as a residence hall/student apartments housing manager. While immersing myself in the world of higher education/student affairs, I began an intensive research project on the story of the university. I examined hundreds of photographs and primary documents in the library's archives, as well as interviewed many campus colleagues and alumni during the research process. I discovered many interesting and unique facts about the institution I worked at, and desired to share my research with my colleagues. The end result was a detailed, yet simple-to-read history of William Mayo's school from its founding in 1889 to the present (then-2019) using 213 black-and-white photographs and captions. The book surveys a variety of events and groups in the campus's 130-year history, including changes in the student body demographics, modifications to the institution's rigorous curriculum, campus infrastructure renovations, and the successful (and turbulent) moments of thirteen presidential administrations. My research (which came from material already written by East Texas historians, alumni interviews, my personal collections of photographs, and primary sources from the university archives) was presented to the institution's housing department in 2021. Since there were limited print copies, I have decided to share my scholarship with my online audience for free - a .pdf ebook copy is found below. My hope is that my scholarship on William Mayo and his innovative institution brings joy and thoughtfulness to Commerce Lions in the past, present, and future... My fascination and curiosity in studying Texas's education history stemmed from this fascinating project. Enjoy!
*Click on this link to access my free PDF ebook copy of A Photographic History of Texas A&M University-Commerce (published in print in fall 2021)*
**I also wrote an article about Whitley Hall, one of the university's residence halls and the tallest structure in East Texas, for Texas Escapes Magazine in April 2021 - click to access the Whitley Hall article**
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