History Archives - The Baylor Line

Pompeo Luigi Coppini: The Most Famous Texas Sculptor You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Leave a Comment / History, Profiles, Texas / By Roger Munford

In his lifetime, Pompeo Coppini was recognized as a talented artist, both popular and successful,” according to Dr. Rick McCaslin, director of publications at the Texas State Historical Association, and former professor of history at the University of North Texas. “But I’ve seen several newspaper headlines that referred to him as a Confederate sculptor,” he […]

Pompeo Luigi Coppini: The Most Famous Texas Sculptor You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Read More »

Owen Lind and the Birth of Environmental Studies at Baylor

Campus, Fall 2025, Features, History / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

“The building of a better environment will require in the long term a citizenry that is both deeply concerned and fully informed. Thus, I believe that our educational system at all levels has a critical role to play.” – President Richard M. Nixon At age 91, Dr. Owen Lind still vividly remembers the cacophony of

Owen Lind and the Birth of Environmental Studies at Baylor Read More »

The Time Jesse Jackson Spoke at Baylor

History / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

In February 1973, the Rev. Jesse Jackson – not yet a household name, but a significant figure in the modern civil rights movement – undertook a speaking tour of Southern colleges. Jackson’s presence on that fateful Memphis hotel balcony the day his mentor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated had been the catalyst for

The Time Jesse Jackson Spoke at Baylor Read More »

Helen A. McCullough: The Unfinished Story of One of the Angels of Anzio Beach

History / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

The Baylor Line Foundation’s motto is, “There’s a story for every Baylor grad” and I believe it. But some stories don’t have a happy ending. Some stories don’t have an ending at all. This is one of those stories. I stumbled across a one-paragraph notice mentioning Helen A. McCullough in the July 21, 1944, edition

Helen A. McCullough: The Unfinished Story of One of the Angels of Anzio Beach Read More »

Hiding in Plain Sight

Campus, History / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

Great colleges have great art. In addition to the treasures at the Martin Museum of Art and in the Armstrong Browning Library, scattered throughout Baylor University’s campus are a handful of widely recognized classics. But what’s different about Baylor’s collection is that several of these paintings in particular have been hiding in plain sight–seen, yet

Hiding in Plain Sight Read More »

Building Baylor: How Freemasonry Shaped the University’s First 150 Years

History, Texas / By Jonathan H. Reynolds

Note of disclosure: The author of this article is the oldest grandson of Herbert Hal Reynolds (11th president of Baylor) and is the first cousin four times removed of W.R. White (9th president of Baylor). He is also a Freemason. What do Baylor University’s first 11 Presidents have in common with Mozart, Isaac Newton, George

Building Baylor: How Freemasonry Shaped the University’s First 150 Years Read More »

Catholics at Baylor: Promoting Unity and Cooperation

Campus, History / By Roger Munford

When Baylor University was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas, its co-founders, Reverend William Milton Tryon and Judge Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, wanted to weave the Baptist faith into the daily curriculum. The third founding father, Reverend James Huckins, who was the first Southern Baptist missionary to Texas, cemented

Catholics at Baylor: Promoting Unity and Cooperation Read More »

Al & Mike Dewlen: Lost Father, Sleeping Son

2 Comments / Features, History, Profiles / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

This story was originally published by The Baylor Line in 2020 as an e-book. My wife Mary and I encountered Dr. Robert C. Cloud right before a conference at Baylor. We’re both big fans of “RCC”; Mary considers him to be her mentor. As modest as ever, the whippet-thin man who was once the youngest

Al & Mike Dewlen: Lost Father, Sleeping Son Read More »

The Life and Times of ‘Fesser Courtney

Campus, History, Profiles / By Robert F. Darden, Editor emeritus

In its long history, who was Baylor’s first senior professor? Dorothy Scarborough? A. J. Armstrong? Paul Baker? Daniel Sternberg? Glenn Capp? Cornelia Marschall Smith? It was Dr. Luther Weeks Courtney, who taught in the English department for nearly 40 years. In 1954, President W.R. White conferred the newly created title of “Distinguished Professor” on Courtney

The Life and Times of ‘Fesser Courtney Read More »

The Mighty Brazos

History, Texas, Wacoing / By Leslie George

Perhaps nothing says “Texas” like the Brazos River, the 10th longest river in the U.S. and the longest river entirely within the state of Texas. Powerful and temperamental, it meanders 840 miles from Lubbock to the Gulf of Mexico. Home to blue herons, white egrets, hawks, and golden eagles, its flow and color change (clear,

The Mighty Brazos Read More »

History

Discover

More