Samuel Huston College
Samuel Huston College was originally established in 1876 under the Methodist Episcopal Conference, and with the help of the Freedmen’s Aid Society formed as a college in 1883. Samuel Huston College was one of the two black colleges in Austin, Texas, but the institution was crude getting off to a rough start. Courses taught at Samuel Huston College began with elementary level courses, but also including courses over blacksmithing, preaching, bookkeeping, and teaching. College-level courses were not offered at Samuel Huston College until 1905. In 1926, the college was recognized as a class A senior college by the State of Texas Department of Education, and in 1934 the college was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Samuel Huston College was a successful institution with an exceptional teacher placement department, and a premedical course that was accepted by the American Medical Association. Miss Sophia Bowens of Pilot Point attended Samuel Huston College.
Samuel Huston College merged with another black college in Austin, Tillotson College, in 1952 to form Huston-Tillotson College. The two institutions agreed to be located on the site of the former Tillotson College located on Bluebonnet Hill. Huston-Tillotson College remained a predominately all black college after the merger, although enrollment was not restricted by race. The college operates under both the American Missionary Association of the United Church of Christ, and the Board of Education of the United Methodist Church. Huston-Tillotson reached university status in 2000 under the institutions fifth president and was renamed Huston-Tillotson University.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Samuel Huston College baseball team." New York Public Library Digital Collections. ; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "President J. B. Randolph." New York Public Library Digital Collections ; Handbook of Texas Online, Rev. by Brett J. Derbes, "Samuel Huston College," ; "Huston-Tillotson University." In Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Encyclopedia, by F. Erik Brooks, and Glenn L. Starks. Greenwood, 2011.