Stephen F. Austin State University was once the pride and joy of the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. When the Texas State Legislature began to look for a location for their new state normal school, the people of the East Texas town fought to have it built there and the Stephen F. Austin Teacher’s College opened its doors in September 1923 to a proud community. Through the trials and tribulations of early twentieth century events, the school managed to stay afloat and grow in numbers. Dr. Ralph W. Steen became the president of the college in 1958 and he oversaw a multitude of significant changes including the integration of the school in 1964. While this shift in the student body did strike a nerve with the surrounding community, it was not until those involved with the campus changed their political views and joined their fellow African Americans in the fight for civil rights, did the support for the university change. The actions of the faculty and students against the traditions of Nacogdoches divided the town and gown to where the relationship has never fully recovered.
","abstract_html":"<p>Stephen F. Austin State University was once the pride and joy of the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. When the Texas State Legislature began to look for a location for their new state normal school, the people of the East Texas town fought to have it built there and the Stephen F. Austin Teacher’s College opened its doors in September 1923 to a proud community. Through the trials and tribulations of early twentieth century events, the school managed to stay afloat and grow in numbers. Dr. Ralph W. Steen became the president of the college in 1958 and he oversaw a multitude of significant changes including the integration of the school in 1964. While this shift in the student body did strike a nerve with the surrounding community, it was not until those involved with the campus changed their political views and joined their fellow African Americans in the fight for civil rights, did the support for the university change. The actions of the faculty and students against the traditions of Nacogdoches divided the town and gown to where the relationship has never fully recovered.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hornback, Caitlin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - History","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["M. Scott Sosebee, Ph.D.","Dana Cooper, Ph.D.","Paul Sandul, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-07T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-07T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z","subjects":["Integration","Civil Rights","College","Nacogdoches","East Texas","Local History","African American Studies","American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Cultural History","Education","Fourteenth Amendment","Higher Education","History","Law and Politics","Law and Race","Law and Society","Law Enforcement and Corrections","Legislation","Liberal Studies","Political History","Secondary Education","Social History","State and Local Government Law","Supreme Court of the United States","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/441","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["M. Scott Sosebee, Ph.D.","Dana Cooper, Ph.D.","Paul Sandul, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hornback, Caitlin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - History"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Integration","Civil Rights","College","Nacogdoches","East Texas","Local History","African American Studies","American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Cultural History","Education","Fourteenth Amendment","Higher Education","History","Law and Politics","Law and Race","Law and Society","Law Enforcement and Corrections","Legislation","Liberal Studies","Political History","Secondary Education","Social History","State and Local Government Law","Supreme Court of the United States","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/441"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Stephen F. Austin State University was once the pride and joy of the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. When the Texas State Legislature began to look for a location for their new state normal school, the people of the East Texas town fought to have it built there and the Stephen F. Austin Teacher’s College opened its doors in September 1923 to a proud community. Through the trials and tribulations of early twentieth century events, the school managed to stay afloat and grow in numbers. Dr. Ralph W. Steen became the president of the college in 1958 and he oversaw a multitude of significant changes including the integration of the school in 1964. While this shift in the student body did strike a nerve with the surrounding community, it was not until those involved with the campus changed their political views and joined their fellow African Americans in the fight for civil rights, did the support for the university change. The actions of the faculty and students against the traditions of Nacogdoches divided the town and gown to where the relationship has never fully recovered.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Cleave within the Piney Woods: Nacogdoches, Stephen F. Austin State University and How Racial Integration Divided the Town and Gown"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["M. Scott Sosebee, Ph.D.","Dana Cooper, Ph.D.","Paul Sandul, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Hornback, Caitlin"],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Stephen F. Austin State University was once the pride and joy of the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. When the Texas State Legislature began to look for a location for their new state normal school, the people of the East Texas town fought to have it built there and the Stephen F. Austin Teacher’s College opened its doors in September 1923 to a proud community. Through the trials and tribulations of early twentieth century events, the school managed to stay afloat and grow in numbers. Dr. Ralph W. Steen became the president of the college in 1958 and he oversaw a multitude of significant changes including the integration of the school in 1964. While this shift in the student body did strike a nerve with the surrounding community, it was not until those involved with the campus changed their political views and joined their fellow African Americans in the fight for civil rights, did the support for the university change. The actions of the faculty and students against the traditions of Nacogdoches divided the town and gown to where the relationship has never fully recovered.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/441"],"dc:subject":["Integration","Civil Rights","College","Nacogdoches","East Texas","Local History","African American Studies","American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Cultural History","Education","Fourteenth Amendment","Higher Education","History","Law and Politics","Law and Race","Law and Society","Law Enforcement and Corrections","Legislation","Liberal Studies","Political History","Secondary Education","Social History","State and Local Government Law","Supreme Court of the United States","United States History"],"dc:title":["A Cleave within the Piney Woods: Nacogdoches, Stephen F. Austin State University and How Racial Integration Divided the Town and Gown"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - History"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z"}