The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983 Page: 262

                                
Southwestern Historical Quarterly

him out on the sensitive issues that it confronted. The results laid the
groundwork for subsequent distrust. When Ferguson selected a Pres-
byterian minister without library training as the State Librarian, Pro-
fessor Eugene C. Barker of the history department, a member of the
Texas State Library and Historical Commission, opposed the nomi-
nation on professional grounds. Barker described the demands of the
job to the prospective candidate in a discouraging letter that Ferguson
labeled "an insult to him and me both." A faculty member, the gov-
ernor concluded, had intruded into the political prerogatives of the
state executive.14
The board of regents also attempted to work out a joint strategy
with Ferguson on the questions dividing the University and A&8M.
Ferguson's older brother was an A8cM alumnus, and the governor may
well have gathered derogatory information about the University from
that source. However, both Ferguson and the regents supported a sin-
gle governing board for both institutions when the legislature assem-
bled in January, 1915. In the maneuvering among the lawmakers over
the necessary constitutional amendment, Will Hogg appeared to un-
dercut Ferguson's position. When the legislature turned down the sin-
gle board idea, the governor again had reason to believe that the Uni-
versity of Texas was countering his educational objectives. As he told
the legislature in January, 1915, "It is apparent to any fair-minded
person that Texas is today suffering more from a want of under edu-
cation of the many than it is from a want of over education of the few."
In short, the public school system was getting too little and the univer-
sities too much, with "a real danger of somebody going hog wild about
higher education."16
Adding to Ferguson's suspicions were his troubled relations with
Austin's social elite. The new governor apparently expected rapid in-
clusion in the activities of the capital city's upper crust, a circle where
University faculty had influence. When his wife, Miriam Amanda,
and daughters were not treated with the deference he thought appro-
priate, his anger was further aroused. By the spring he was telling
friends that University professors did "only fourteen hours of work a
week, including preparation."'16
14Ferguson to Eugene C. Barker, Feb. 20, 1915, Eugene C. Barker Papers (BTHC); Pool,
Eugene C. Barker, 70-71.
15Benedict (comp.), A Source Book, 506 (quotations); Hogg to Ferguson, Dec. 11, 28,
1914, Feb. i, 1915, Hogg Papers. In the last letter, Hogg explained how he had not, before
the legislative committee, stressed Ferguson's support for a single governing board for
both schools.
16William J. Battle to Fred Acree, May 17, 1915 (quotation), Fred Acree Papers

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