U N T Established 1890 U N T
University Libraries

125 Year Archival Retrospective

Annie Webb Blanton: Influential Educator

Posted by & filed under 1900's, 1910's.

When Annie Webb Blanton, an early twentieth-century Texas feminist and educational reformer, moved to Denton in 1901 to join the faculty of North Texas State Normal College (a predecessor to the University of North Texas), the town had 4,000 residents. Over the next seventeen years Blanton witnessed Denton’s population double in response to the opportunities afforded by North Texas State Normal College and the Girls Industrial College (now Texas Woman’s University), the establishment of new businesses, and the introduction of a railroad connection to Dallas and Forth Worth.

Before accepting a teaching position at North Texas, Blanton spent seven years earning a Bachelor of Literature from the University of Texas while teaching full-time at an Austin elementary school. She graduated from UT in 1899 at the age of 29.

North Texas hired Blanton to teach English grammar and composition at the rank of Associate Professor. She taught five courses a semester and met with each course five times a week. This was the standard teaching load at North Texas at the time. Blanton also coached the North Texas debate team and helped establish both the North Texas State Normal Journal and the women’s Current Literature Club on campus.  The 1908 North Texas yearbook, The Yucca, was dedicated to her “justice, impartiality, and interest in the students.” Read more

Alvin Owsley: Early Supporter of the Normal College

Posted by & filed under 1890's.

Alvin Clark Owsley (1856-1938) was born in Missouri, received most of his schooling in California, moved back to Missouri to study law, and moved to Denton, Texas in 1873 to be a public school teacher. A year later he was the examiner of teachers for Denton County, remaining in that position until 1884. Owsley continued with his career in law. He received his Texas law license in 1875. By 1882 he was licensed to practice in the circuit and district courts for the Northern District of Texas. He received a doctor of laws degree from Nashville College in 1903.

C. Owsley was a prominent member of the Denton community. He was elected to serve three terms in the Texas legislature, starting in 1888.   He also served a term as a district judge in the sixteenth judicial district of Texas (1926-1928). In 1934 he was appointed special chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Owsley was also the first president of the Denton Chamber of Commerce. Read more

Early Social Clubs at UNT

Posted by & filed under 1910's, 1920's, 1930's.

The University of North Texas has been home to a rich and vibrant Greek community since 1952. Currently, UNT supports over 40 fraternities and sororities under four councils; organization members have made a significant impact in areas such as community service and academic excellence. But even before 1952, UNT students organized and gathered in various social and academic clubs and societies, usually segregated by sex.

At the turn of the 20th century, an energetic group of students gathered in the chapel to organize the school’s first society. Due to an inability to agree on the proposed constitution, the school’s first society quickly split into two separate groups: the Kendall-Bruce Literacy Society (known affectionately as the K-B), and the McKinley Society. After a few name changes and a trial co-ed integration, the McKinley society disbanded. In 1902 a rival literary society formed; the Reagan Literary Society regularly engaged in debate functions against the K-B, and the two rival groups met for a joint session in 1907 to form the Oratorical Association of the North Texas State Normal. Female students weren’t excluded from these activities for long, and the Mary Arden Club was founded in 1902. Originally created as a literary club for women and devoted to the study of Shakespeare, the club also provided its members various training opportunities in club work and social activities. In 1922 the members raised enough money through pledges to build the Mary Arden Lodge, described as being “ideally located just east of the library.” The Mary Arden club remained active until 1970, regularly hosting various teas, socials, and literary lectures on campus. The UNT Special Collections Department houses their organizational archive. Read more

A New University in North Texas

Posted by & filed under 1890's.

On September 16, 1890, a man dressed in a frock coat and top hat stood on the steps of the Denton County Courthouse and addressed the citizens of Denton, Texas.  President Joshua Crittenden Chilton’ s speech opened the Texas Normal College and Teachers Training Institute, now known as the University of North Texas.  The new educational institution started classes before a site for the campus had been chosen.  After the speech students were directed to a structure on the northwest corner of the square that would serve as the school site for the first year. Read more

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