A Guide to the Homer Price Rainey Papers, 1861, 1938-1946, 1961-1974, 1985, 1991
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator: | Rainey, Homer P. (Homer Price), 1896-1985 | |
| Title: | Rainey, Homer Price, papers | |
| Dates: | 1861, 1938-1946, 1961-1974, 1985, 1991 | |
| Abstract: | The Homer Price Rainey Papers, 1861, 1938-1946, 1961-1974, 1985, 1991, include correspondence, speeches, minutes, certificates, political posters, literary productions, questionnaires, programs, photographs, news clippings, and printed material about Rainey. | |
| Accession No.: | 1939; 1948; 1949; 93-055; 2010-228 | |
| Extent: | 4 ft. | |
| Language: | Materials are written in English. | |
| Repository: | Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin | |
Biographical Sketch
Homer Price Rainey (1896-1985) was born in Clarksville, Texas, where he grew up in a poor farming family. He was valedictorian of his class at Lovelady High School in 1913. At the age of 19, he became a Baptist minister, and he served in the United States army during World War I. In 1919, Rainey earned his B.A. degree from Austin College and taught education there for three years before attending the University of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in 1923 and a doctorate in 1924. Rainey taught at the University of Oregon until 1927, when he became president of Franklin College in Indiana, 1927-1931. He then became president of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, 1931-1935, and served for four years as director of the American Youth Commission of the American Council on Education.
The board of regents of the University of Texas appointed Rainey president in 1939. Rainey often battled with the board, protesting against the regents’ firings of professors, weakening of tenure, and terminating social science research funds. He further angered the regents by attempting to bring the UT Medical Branch at Galveston into the university proper. However, the greatest conflict between Rainey and the board involved their attempts to fire a professor who placed the third volume of John Dos Passos’ USA trilogy on the English department’s sophomore reading list. Eventually the board of regents fired Rainey in November 1944, citing no reasons, and 8,000 students went on strike in response, marching from the campus to the Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion. Governor Stevenson appointed new regents and made other changes, but Rainey was never reinstated as president.
In 1946, Rainey ran for governor, and though he lost to Railroad Commissioner Beauford H. Jester, he made waves as being the first candidate to run for state office supported by minorities, labor unions, and independent progressives. One year later Rainey became president of Stephens College in Missouri, and joined the education faculty at the University of Colorado in 1956. In 1971 he wrote an account of his experiences at UT entitled The Tower and the Dome. He married Mildred Collins in 1920 and they had two daughters. He died in 1985.
Source: Green, George N. "Rainey, Homer Price."Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed July 27, 2010. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fra54.
Scope and Contents
The Homer Price Rainey Papers, 1861, 1938-1946, 1961-1974, 1985, 1991, include correspondence, speeches, minutes, certificates, political posters, literary productions, questionnaires, programs, photographs, news clippings, and printed material about Rainey. The papers relate to conferences on public education, Rainey’s inauguration as President of the University of Texas, his gubernatorial campaign, and the Rainey-University of Texas board of regents dispute over academic freedom. The bulk of the collection consists of scrapbooks, created by Rainey, documenting his career at and controversies with the University of Texas.
Restrictions
Use Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Index Terms | ||
| Subjects (Persons) | ||
| Rainey, Homer P. (Homer Price), 1896-1985--Archives. | ||
| Brandon, Arthur L. (Arthur Leon) | ||
| Burdine, J. Alton (John Alton), 1905- | ||
| Castro, Américo, 1885-1972 | ||
| Edwards, Newton, 1889- | ||
| Gordon, Wendell Chaffee, 1916- | ||
| Gulick, Luther Halsey, 1828-1891 | ||
| Hackett, Charles W. (Charles Wilson), 1888-1951 | ||
| Himstead, Ralph E. (Ralph Ebner), 1893-1955 | ||
| Hoblitzelle, Karl, 1879- | ||
| Jester, Beauford Halbert, 1893-1949 | ||
| Leake, Chauncey Depew, 1896-1978 | ||
| O'Daniel, W. Lee (Wilbert Lee), 1890-1969 | ||
| Painter, Theophilus S. (Theophilus Shickel), 1889-1969 | ||
| Pattee, Richard, 1906- | ||
| Pittenger, Benjamin Floyd, 1883- | ||
| Reeves, Floyd W. (Floyd Wesley), 1890-1979 | ||
| Sellards, E. H. (Elias Howard), 1875-1961 | ||
| Jacob, Henry | ||
| Stevenson, Coke R. (Coke Robert), 1888-1975 | ||
| Subjects (Organizations) | ||
| University of Texas | ||
| University of Texas. Board of Regents | ||
| Subjects | ||
| College presidents--Texas | ||
| Places | ||
| Austin (Tex.) | ||
Related Material
See also the Eugene Campbell Barker Papers, 1785 (1812-1959), William James Battle Papers, 1870-1959, and Walter Prescott Webb Papers, 1857-1966. |
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Separated Material
Some material has been separated to the Library Unit. |
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Homer Price Rainey Papers, 1861, 1938-1946, 1961-1974, 1985, 1991, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Processing Information
Processed by Winnie Allen, September 1948. Revised by Deborah Bloys, January 1993; Steve Stappenbeck, September 1998; Mark Firmin, February 2012; and Laurel Rozema, June 2012.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.
Detailed Description of the Papers