Of the 15 men who comprised the original Board of Trustees of a doughty little school on the rolling hills near the village of the Independence in 1845, only William M. Tryon and Judge R.E.B. Baylor are known and celebrated today. The others — J.G. Thomas, James Huckins, Albert G. Haynes, Albert C. Horton, R.B. […]
George’s tumultuous life is the stuff of legends, of Hollywood action movies, of dime store novels. He was a restless pioneer. A leader. A stone-cold killer. A mass of contradictions. It’s not a pretty story at times, certainly not by today’s standards, but few people in the American west lived a more eventful life than
It was a glorious, picture-perfect night for Willie Nelson’s triumphant return to Baylor University. Not that Willie has ever really been away. He may have resettled in Austin, but his roots and heart are still in the blackland prairie soil of Central Texas — nourished in the rich loam of countless honky-tonks and SPJST halls.
The Last Leaf on the Tree: Willie Nelson’s Triumphant Return to Baylor Read More »
Baylor University’s beloved origin story — how Texas’ oldest university, a scrappy little Baptist college in tiny Independence, overcame impossible odds, moved to Waco, and became one of America’s great institutions — conveniently glosses over the other significant factor in that transformation: Waco University. And while the larger-than-life presence of irascible, imperious Rufus C. Burleson
The School That Saved Baylor: Legacies of Waco University Read More »
William Sidney Graves was born on March 27, 1865, in Mount Calm, 24 miles northeast of Waco on old Highway 31. Before his death on February 27, 1940, he would experience several lifetimes’ worth of adventures, be called a revolutionary and a counter-revolutionary, see much of the world, and become the central figure in one
To say that Nellie and Miriam Buck were Baylor and Waco’s answer to Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan is to over-state the fact – but just barely. Few people of any era have overcome more and achieved more than the indomitable Buck sisters. Civil War veteran and lawyer Giddings Judson Buck and his with Mary
Baylor University’s legacy of filmmakers, screenwriters, playwrights, and actors is uncommonly rich and varied – John Lee Hancock, Kevin Reynolds, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Robert Askins, Mark Olsen, Carole “Cookie” Cook, Geoff Moore, Jordan Hearne, Maree Cheatham, Angela Kinsley, Clu Gulager, and so many others – but few have had a more intriguing path than
“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 »
Editor’s Note: For now over 75 years, The Baylor Line has been publishing vivid storytelling from across the Baylor Family. I don’t think our archives full of deep, inspirational features should live solely on shelves, so we are bringing them back to life in BL Classics. This Spring 1998 Classic explores the history of Waco Creek
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
