HELP STUDENTS HONOR TEXAS A&M'S PIONEERS

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Senator Matthew Gaines passionately and unflaggingly supported the forward movement that established the first public school system for all Texans. The first African-American state senator from Washington County, he was instrumental in the 12th Texas Legislature's passage of Senate Bill 276, which created the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas under the Land-Grant College Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Act.

In 2017, the Texas A&M University Student Government Association, Graduate & Professional Student Council, and Residential Housing Association each passed legislation in support of commemorating Gaines and the 12th Texas Legislature on the Texas A&M campus.

Join these and other Texas A&M students to increase awareness and to raise an estimated $350,000 by May 2019. These funds would allow Texas A&M students to commission, construct and maintain a statue honoring Matthew Gaines and the 12th Texas Legislature on the College Station campus.

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Aggie Student Leaders Renew Efforts To Recognize Senator's Contributions To Education, Texas A&M

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Gaines, an African-American state senator and former slave who represented Washington County, was a courageous leader and instrumental in the 12th Texas Legislature's passage of Senate Bill 276, which led to the creation of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas under the Land Grant College Act of 1862.

Last fall, members from the Student Government Association, the Black Student Alliance Council, and other student organizations worked diligently on a fundraising campaign for the statue.

With support from the Division of Student Affairs, students formed the Matthew Gaines Task Force to lead the effort. This spring the task force is directing its efforts on student awareness of Gaines' achievements. It is also working closely with the Texas A&M Foundation to identify potential donors to generate an estimated $350,000 to construct and maintain the statue.

Students hope to raise the necessary funds by the end of 2019, at which time the internal process will begin to identify the statue's artist and permanent location. The proposed timeline calls for the unveiling of the statue in fall 2020.

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A monument to revisionist history.

It probably is revisionist history, but Gaines did serve and is worth a statue somewhere. I'd love to honor an early African-American on campus, but you're right, it's probably a stretch for anybody prior to the modern era, when A&M is integrated. I feel fairly certain that you don't have to look hard and stretch to find some good African-American Aggie grads who were soldiers.

You might have to wait a bit, because most of those guys are still alive.

When I had Texas History back in the '90's the campus Republicans were trying to get a statue of Gaines erected at that time. The prof I had (Baum) was a huge supporter of the movement and delivered a lecture to us on his importance in rallying support from fellow Republicans to pass the bill.

Belton Ag, I was in the CRs through most of the early 90s, and since I had studied Gaines in Texas History, I knew quite a bit about him. But I don't recall the move. May have been late 90s.

I can't recall the exact year I had Texas History but it would have been '97 or '98.