This Week in Texas Methodist History October 21

Huston-Tillotson Merger Completed October 24, 1952

On October 24, 1952 Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College, both located in Austin, completed their merger and assumed a new name, Huston-Tillotson College. The successful merger of two schools is something of a rarity in Texas Methodist educational history. To be sure, that history is full of discussions about mergers and even a few attempts at mergers, but the rate of success is low.

The successful merger of 1952 is even more singular since it involved two schools with different denominational ties. Tillotson College was chartered in 1877 and was opened by the Missionary Society of the Congregational Church in 1881 as Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute. By the mid-1940’s it had grown to occupy a twenty-three acre campus with fourteen buildings.

Samuel Huston College began about the same time under the sponsorship of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Freedman’s Aid Society. The new institution was named in honor of Samuel Huston of Iowa who donated $9,000.

In 2005 Huston-Tillotson College became Huston-Tillotson University. It holds membership in both the Council for Higher Education of the United Church of Christ (successor to the Congregational Church) and the National Association of School and Colleges of The United Methodist Church