Fort Worth University was a private

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. It was chartered and opened in 1881 as the Texas Wesleyan College. Its name changed to Fort Worth University in 1889. It merged with the Methodist University of Oklahoma (now

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

) in 1911.

History

Texas Wesleyan College was chartered on June 6, 1881, and opened in

on September 7, 1881. The university was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a member of the University Senate of the church. The first president was William H. Cannon; later presidents included William Fielder and Oscar L. Fisher. When it opened, the college had 123 students. In addition to its college program, it had a conservatory of music and a four-year preparatory academy. Under the leadership of Fielder, the college was recharted as Fort Worth University in June 1889. A new charter authorized a School of Law in August 1893, followed by a School of Medicine in July 1894. In 1903, tuition was less than $200 a year, with board being $3 a week and a room costing fifty cents a week. The tuition at the School of Medicine was $75 a year, including lab fees. The Fort Worth School of Medicine moved to a new building in downtown Fort Worth in 1905; its growth was no surprise as this was the only medical school in an area of 380,000 square miles with more than 4 million people. In 1908, Fort Worth College's total enrollment was 871 students, including 108 medical students and 163 university and academy students. The university made an unsuccessful attempt to consolidate with

Polytechnic College An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

in 1910. Fort Worth University merged with Methodist University of Oklahoma (now

), in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 1911. Its liberal arts department moved to Guthrie, while the School of Medicine, which was separately chartered, continued to operate as the Fort Worth School of Medicine until 1919; it merged with

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

which had moved to Fort Worth in 1910. In 1913, the former campus was used by Bryant School, a boys preparatory school. The Fort Worth School District purchased the campus in 1915 and demolished the buildings the next year.

Campus

After five years at a temporary location at Jennings and Thirteenth Streets in Fort Worth, the university moved to a ten-acre campus located south of the city in 1886. The campus included three newly constructed stone buildings. These included the three-story University Hall, Science Hall, and Dining Hall. A fourth building, Cadet Hall, was added at a later date. All four buildings included dormitories. The campus included a football field, a baseball field, a croquet lawn, and lawn tennis courts. The School of Medicine was originally located on the main university campus but moved to Commerce and Seventh Streets in Fort Worth in 1896.

Academics

Fort Worth College A.B., B.S., Ph.B., B.Lit, D.D., and Ph.D. degrees in the arts and sciences. Classes included traditional arts and sciences, including astronomy, Bible, biology, business, calculus, chemistry, Christian ethics, drawing and painting, economics, elocution, French, geology, geometry, German, Greek, history, instrumental and vocal music, Latin, literature, mathematics, pedagogy, philosophy, physics, physiology, psychology, sociology, and Spanish. It also includes a four-year preparatory academy and a military school. After the cadet corps was added in 1890, military training was required for male students. Other programs included the Department of Oratory and Elocution, the Conservatory of Music, and a School of Commerce (later known as the Brantley-Draughon Business College ), with the latter being its most popular program. The university also offered advanced degrees, including an LL.B from its law school, and an M.D. from its medical school and school of pharmacy.

Student life

Students were required to attend chapel and church. Fort Worth University had both a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and a

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. The university's four literary societies were Kappa Gamma Chi and Phi Lambda for men and Alpha Theta and Zetagathean for women. The college was a member of the Texas State Oratorical Society and competed with seven other colleges. Its yearbook was ''The Lasso''. The Fort Worth School of Medicine had chapters of Beta Omicron Alpha,

Delta Omicron Alpha Delta Omicron Alpha () was an American medical fraternity that operated from 1907 to 1917. This national professional fraternity was established at Tulane University and merged with Kappa Psi in 1917. History Delta Omicron Alpha was established ...

, and Kappa Psi medical fraternities.Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) ''Baird's Manual of American Fraternities'' (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. V-24–25. .Shepard, Francis W., ed. (1927)
''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'' (11th ed.)
Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company. p. 411 and 535 – via Google Books.

Sports

Fort Worth University's colors were gold and blue. Its athletic program included football, baseball, and track. Its teams played against

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, Carlisle Military Academy, Dallas Medical College, Fort Worth High School,

, and

Notable people

Alumni

* Frances Daisy Emery Allen (M.D., 1897), first female physician to graduate from a Texas medical school and the first licensed female physician in Texas * Hazel Vaughn Leigh (Piano), founder and longtime director of the Fort Worth Boys Club *

William Duncan MacMillan William Duncan MacMillan (July 24, 1871 – November 14, 1948) was an American mathematician and astronomer on the faculty of the University of Chicago. He published research on the applications of classical mechanics to astronomy, and is noted f ...

(A.B., 1898), professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and is noted for research on

physical cosmology Physical cosmology is a branch of cosmology concerned with the study of cosmological models. A cosmological model, or simply cosmology, provides a description of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and allows study of fu ...

and advanced textbooks on

classical mechanics Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...

. MacMillan was the secretary of the class of 1898 - and simultaneously an adjunct professor of astronomy. * Walter Elmer Pope,

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

and owner of the ''Corpus Christi Democrat'' newspaper *

Samuel Murray Robinson Admiral Samuel Murray Robinson (August 13, 1882 – November 11, 1972) was a United States Navy four-star admiral who directed Navy procurement during World War II. Early career Born in Eulogy, Texas, Robinson attended primary school in Walnut Sp ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

four-star admiral Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe General officer, general and flag officers. Within Member states of NATO, NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to Ranks and insignia of NATO, ...

* Houston B. Teehee, Oklahoma Supreme Court Commissioner,

Register of the Treasury The Register of the Treasury was an officer of the United States Treasury Department. The Register's duties included filing the accounting records of the government, transferring and cancelling federal debt securities, and filing the certificates o ...

, and

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

* George Whitaker (M.D.), president of

Wiley College Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ...

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

and

Portland University Portland University was a private, Methodist post-secondary school in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1891 in a split from Willamette University, the school closed in 1900. The campus was located in what is now the University Park ne ...

Faculty

, professor of astronomy * Enoch J. Mills, head football coach * Anna Shelton, English tutor *

D. M. Smith David Melville "Doc" Smith (July 27, 1884 – November 26, 1962) was an American professor and mathematician at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). During his more than forty years at the school, he was particularly known for his ...

, mathematics instructor

References

{{reflist Universities and colleges affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church Protestantism in Texas Universities and colleges in Fort Worth, Texas Private universities and colleges in Texas Universities and colleges established in 1881 1881 establishments in Texas 1911 disestablishments in Texas Methodist universities and colleges in the United States Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas