The Story of North Texas


Book Description

With unlimited archival access and a journalist's attention to detail, James L. Rogers updates and expands his 1965 publication to bring the university's history into the next century. The founder of the Texas Normal College, Joshua C. Chilton, declared in 1890 the institution's aim "to become leaders in the education of the young men and women of Texas, fitting them to creditably fill the most important positions in business and professional circles." By 1965 the eighth president, J. C. Matthews, presided over an institution granting doctorates in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, social sciences, teacher education, business administration, and the fine arts. In the last thirty-five years the institution has grown to become the University of North Texas System under the leadership of Chancellor Alfred Hurley and President Norval Pohl, with campuses in Dallas and Fort Worth. It now stands as the leading university of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Generously illustrated with over eighty photos of people and events on campus, The Story of North Texas provides the definitive history of this institution and is an inspiration to its alumni and friends..




The Life and Times of Missouri's Charles Parsons


Book Description

Charles Parsons is one of St. Louis's and the nation's most influential yet little-known figures. He was instrumental to the Union cause as a Civil War quartermaster and advisor to generals, politicians and presidents alike. As a world-traveling art connoisseur, he helped found the first art museum west of the Mississippi, to which he donated his remarkable collection of American, European and Asian art. To this day, his philanthropic work and dedication to education live on in some of the country's grandest institutions. Author John Launius tells the full story for the first time, from business failures in a riverside boomtown to national renown.




The Strange Genius of Mr. O


Book Description

When James Ogilvie arrived in America in 1793, he was a deeply ambitious but impoverished teacher. By the time he returned to Britain in 1817, he had become a bona fide celebrity known simply as Mr. O, counting the nation's leading politicians and intellectuals among his admirers. And then, like so many meteoric American luminaries afterward, he fell from grace. The Strange Genius of Mr. O is at once the biography of a remarkable performer--a gaunt Scottish orator who appeared in a toga--and a story of the United States during the founding era. Ogilvie's career featured many of the hallmarks of celebrity we recognize from later eras: glamorous friends, eccentric clothing, scandalous religious views, narcissism, and even an alarming drug habit. Yet he captivated audiences with his eloquence and inaugurated a golden age of American oratory. Examining his roller-coaster career and the Americans who admired (or hated) him, this fascinating book renders a vivid portrait of the United States in the midst of invention.