History of Texas Tech University

The history of Texas Tech University dates back to the early 1880s, but the university was not established until 1923.

The call to open a college in West Texas began shortly after the arrival of settlers in the area in the 1880s. In 1917, the Texas legislature passed a bill creating a branch of Texas A&M to be located in Abilene. However, the bill was repealed two years later during the next session after it was discovered that Governor James E. Ferguson had falsely reported the site committee's choice of location. After new legislation passed in the state house and senate in 1921, Governor Pat Neff vetoed it, citing hard financial times in West Texas. Furious about Neff's veto, some in West Texas went so far as to recommend that West Texas secede from the state.

In 1923, the legislature decided that, rather than a branch campus, an entirely new university would better serve the needs of the region. On February 10, 1923, Neff signed the legislation creating Texas Technological College, and in July of that year a committee began searching for a site. When the members of the committee visited Lubbock, they were overwhelmed to find residents lining the streets to show support for the idea of hosting the institution. That August, Lubbock was chosen on the first ballot over other area towns, including Floydada, Plainview, and Sweetwater.

Construction of the college campus began on November 1, 1924. Ten days later, the cornerstone of the Administration Building was laid in front of a crowd of twenty thousand people. Governor Pat Neff, Amon G. Carter, Reverend E. E. Robinson, Colonel Ernest O. Thompson, and Representative R. M. Chitwood spoke at the event. With an enrollment of 914 students—both men and women—Texas Technological College opened for classes on October 1, 1925. It was originally composed of four schools—Agriculture, Engineering, Home Economics, and Liberal Arts.

During the 1926 football season, head football coach, E. Y. Freeland, and assistant coach, Grady Higginbotham unveiled the first version of the Double T logo. It was first used on the football players sweaters for the inaugural season.

...
Wikipedia