Reckoning with the legacy of Southwestern's four Root Colleges
Southwestern was formed and located in Georgetown, Texas, in 1872 by consolidating four root colleges--Rutersville, McKenzie, Soule, and Wesleyan--into Texas University, which was eventually renamed Southwestern University. Indeed, our current claim to be Texas' first university is derived from the first of these, Rutersville College, which was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1840. 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 these root colleges are entangled in the histories of settler colonialism, chattel slavery, the Civil War, and the early iterations of Jim Crow in Texas. The entries in this theme critically engage the ways that the root colleges are actively remembered today in particular places on campus.
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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The Many Lives of the Rutersville Bell
This historic bell has had a long, winding, and wet journey
The Rutersville Bell has been used for the past few decades as a marker of ceremonial importance and prestige at Southwestern. But the bell itself, being over 180 years old, has been involved in mischief and movement throughout its existence.
The bell was first used at one of Southwestern’s four…
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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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