Reckoning with the legacy of Southwestern's racial history
Southwestern was formed and located in Georgetown, Texas, in 1873 by consolidating four Methodist "Root Colleges"--Rutersville, McKenzie, Soule, and Wesleyan--into Texas University, which was eventually renamed Southwestern University. Francis Asbury Mood, the first Regent of Southwestern, and the one credited with making the consolidation happen, locating the school in Georgetown, and designing the seal and motto, is central to this story. In case you are confused about how a school founded in 1873 also claims to have been chartered in 1840, our current claim to be Texas' first university is derived from the first of the Root Colleges, Rutersville College, which was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1840, and whose charter was transferred to Southwestern at its founding. Although Southwestern's origin stories use this history to authorize our claim to longevity, this claim ignores the ongoing problematic legacies carried with it, as all four of the Root Colleges and Mood himself are entangled in the histories of settler colonialism, slavery, the Confederacy, and the White Southern elite's resistance to Reconstruction in Texas. The entries in this theme critically engage the ways that the characters and places in this story are actively remembered today in particular places on campus.
Reading the Plaques on the Mood Obelisk
What do you learn--and not learn--when you read the plaques on the F. A. Mood Obelisk in front of Mood-Bridwell?
On Southwestern’s campus, a number of monuments and memorials stand to prompt some remembrance of the past. One of the most distinct and prominent ones is the F.A. Mood Obelisk.
Situated in between the Admissions building and Mood-Bridwell, it is a regular feature of our everyday landscape on…
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Who was H. C. Risner?
Uncovering the story of H. C. Risner and the deep roots of racial exclusion embedded in Southwestern's institutional culture
In 1886, a Southwestern student named Henry Clay Risner was advised to withdraw from Southwestern University due to speculations that he was Black. Today, Risner's story resurfaces, prompting us to confront our institution's troubled history and reminding us of the ongoing need to engage with the untold narratives of those from the past who have shaped our present. Note: Although the…
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Stepping on the Seal
Southwestern's storied Seal contains a few more stories than most people realize.
Right in front of the Lois Perkins Chapel, you are faced with a large representation of the Southwestern University seal embedded in the sidewalk. This space is surrounded by bushes that almost encapsulate the seal in this space, making it feel like a sacred space of its own.
Now, if you are a…
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McKenzie Drive as memory place
A campus street named for one of the root colleges with ties to Methodism, the Confederacy, and slavery.
This short street on the west side of campus, sometimes called “Fraternity Row,” is home to the four fraternity houses and is perpendicular to both Wesleyan Drive and Maple Street. McKenzie Drive was given its name in remembrance of McKenzie College, one of Southwestern’s four root colleges.
The…
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Wesleyan Drive as memory place
A street named for one of the root colleges, which itself was named for John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
Wesleyan Drive is the longest and most utilized of the three other streets which are named after Southwestern University’s root institutions. It is perpendicular to Maple Street and McKenzie Drive. Wesleyan Drive also intersects Southwestern Boulevard. Along this street one will find many of…
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Soule Drive as evolving space
A space for social interaction with a twisted history
The history of this street from 1916 to 2023 shows how the campus has evolved from a part of the Georgetown traffic grid to an intentional space for accidental social interaction among students, faculty, and staff--and a place for taking pictures.
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Soule Drive as memory place
A street that remembers Soule University, with ties to the first medical college in Texas, Methodism, the Civil War, and the Confederacy
Soule Drive, a very short east-west street on the west side of campus, is named in remembrance of Soule University, one of Southwestern University's four root institutions. It is easy to overlook this street because of its length, and thus, even easier to overlook the name’s connections to…
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Rutersville Drive as memory place
This street is named after Southwestern University’s earliest root institution and the first university chartered in Texas.
Much of the historical information on Rutersville College and Martin Ruter in this entry comes from To Survive and Excel: The Story of Southwestern University, 1840-2000 and The Texas State Historical Association. The beginnings of Rutersville College, the earliest of Southwestern University’s root…
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