Matthew Gaines Society Makes Strides in Honoring Former Senator
Art installation, bus route renamed in Gaines’ honor are just the beginning.
January, the Matthew Gaines Society collaborated with Texas A&M University Transportation Services to unveil a renaming of one of the bus routes in Gaines’ honor.
Former Senator Matthew Gaines influenced the beginning of a legacy in 1862, now known as Texas A&M University. In 2018, students formed the Matthew Gaines Society to continue that legacy and highlight the contributions he made. Those efforts to recognize the former Senator include the creation of a statue in his honor at Texas A&M.
Artists have been selected to create a statue of Gaines to be located between the Memorial Student Center and the Student Services Building. More than $350,000 has been raised to fund the effort.
“We hope the statue will be completed by the end of the year,” said Erica Pauls ’21, president of the Matthew Gaines Society.
In January, the Society collaborated with Transportation Services to unveil a renaming of one of the bus routes in Gaines’ honor. It’s an appropriate way to honor Gaines and his role in establishing Texas A&M since bus routes are typically named after different traditions, events, and ideals that represent the university and highlight its history and culture.
The Matthew Gaines Legacy Continues Through New Society Members
In honor of Black History month, the Matthew Gaines Society opened its first official recruitment cycle in February to further its mission.
The Society is dedicated to furthering positive change across campus and works to empower and remind students that they can make a difference no matter who they are. The society works to honor Gaines and continue his legacy in three ways:
- Leadership development programs
- Student scholarships
- Honoring individuals who make a difference at Texas A&M University
The Society recruited members who display a unique love for A&M and a willingness to support the success of other members of the Aggie family. This was the culmination of over six months of work from the organization’s leadership to determine the mission and future of the society.
New members will join current members in planning the inaugural events hosted by the Matthew Gaines Society and aim towards fulfilling the legacy of Senator Matthew Gaines. These events will occur in conjunction with the unveiling of The Matthew Gaines Statue in fall 2021.
Congratulations to the newly selected members of the society:
- Ariana Gonzalez ’24, Political Science, Mission, Texas
- Hunter Syas ’23, Biomedical Engineering, Beaumont, Texas
- Samhita Anapu ’23, Public Health, Tomball, Texas
- Yasmine Byers ’22, Psychology, Dallas, Texas
More Than an Art Installation
Learn more about the art installation and read more about the significance of its impact. You can partner with the Matthew Gaines Society to help further their mission and continue to fulfill the legacy of Senator Matthew Gaines.
“Senator Matthew Gaines embodies our university’s core values of selfless service, integrity, excellence and leadership. I hope that students passing by the statue can feel inspired to persevere in their own lives in the same way Senator Gaines did,” Pauls said.
“That ties into our mission statement, which is to highlight the contributions of Senator Matthew Gaines, but to also prove that any Aggie – no matter what race, ethnicity, background or gender – can make an impact at Texas A&M.”
The History of Matthew Gaines
Matthew Gaines, born August 4, 1840, was a Baptist minister who served as the senator from the 16th District in the Texas Legislature during Reconstruction. During his tenure in office, he was a staunch advocate for the rights of freed people.
Born into slavery on a plantation in Pineville, Louisiana, he learned to read by candlelight from books smuggled to him by a boy who lived on the same plantation. Gaines escaped to freedom twice but each time was caught and returned to slavery. His first escape came after 1850, when he was sold to a man from Louisiana and was subsequently hired out as a laborer on a steamboat. Using a false pass, he escaped to Camden, Arkansas.
In Burton, Washington County, Gaines established himself as a leader of the black community, both as a minister and politician. He passionately and unflaggingly supported the forward movement that established the first public school system for all Texans.
The first African-American state senator from Washington County, his leadership was instrumental in assisting the 12th Texas Legislature with taking full advantage of the Land-Grant College Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Act, which created the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now Texas A&M University.
The Morrill Act granted revenues from the sale of millions of acres of federal lands to states to create higher education institutions that emphasized agriculture and mechanical arts. The act provided opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people who were previously excluded from higher education.
Gaines was a vigilant guardian of the rights and interests of African Americans. Among the many issues he addressed were education, prison reform, the protection of blacks at the polls, the election of blacks to public office, and tenant-farming reform.
To encourage educational and religious groups to work toward educational improvement in their communities, Gaines sponsored a bill that called for exempting such organizations from taxation. Buildings and equipment used for charitable or literary associations were also exempted; the bill became law on June 12, 1871.
Gaines was elected to a six-year term to the Texas Senate, but served only four years because his seat was challenged in 1873 when he was convicted on the charge of bigamy, which was never proven, and he subsequently relinquished his post. The charge was overturned on appeal, and he was reelected, but the Democratic and white majority seated his opponent. Gaines continued to be active in politics and made his political views known in conventions, public gatherings, and from his pulpit.
Matthew Gaines died in Giddings, Texas, on June 11, 1900. The legacy of Matthew Gaines is intertwined with the founding of Texas A&M University.
Sources: Cushings Library and Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The legacy of Matthew Gaines is intertwined with the founding of Texas A&M University. To myself and other members of my community, this initiative to recognize him on campus is an acknowledgement of the tenacity of a man who personified the Aggie core values. It is these core values that bind us together, even in the face of a world of differences.
Senator Gaines was a firm supporter of education and worked tirelessly to pass legislation that enabled Texas to take advantage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act, an act of Congress that provided grants of land to states to finance the establishment of colleges specializing in ‘agriculture and the mechanic arts’.
