Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie

Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie (born October 25, 1844, in Lynchburg, Virginia) was an educator and a notable figure in the development of Texas higher education. He served as the 4th president of Texas A&M College (Texas A&M University). He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1868. In 1865 while at VMI, he was the second initiate and a charter member of the Alpha chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

Early life Dinwiddie was born on October 25, 1844, in Lynchburg, Virginia to Mary Ann Turner Dinwiddie and James A. Dinwiddie. His mother died in October 1847 when he was 3 years old. His father remarried in 1850 to Sarah Adeline Holland Dinwiddie when Hardaway was 7 years of age. His father and step-mother had 7 more children, bringing the family total to 8.

His father, James Dinwiddie, was a jeweler in Lynchburg until after the Civil War. James was refused for active service on account of health and served in the home guard in Lynchburg. After the Civil War James and Sarah Dinwiddie moved to the Holland family farm.

Alpha Tau Omega

On September 11, 1865 after the conclusion of the Civil War, Alpha Tau Omega was founded by the three founders, Otis Alan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall and Erskin Mayo Ross. In the Fall of that same year, the returning cadets were temporarily lodged in private residences and the hotels of Lexington, Virginia. Alfred Marshall and Dinwiddie who had roomed together prior to the war shared a room at the Lexington Hotel. On the evening of October 18, 1865, Dinwiddie was initiated by Glazebrook and Marshall at the Lexington Hotel. This made him the second initiate of the Alpha Tau Omega and a charter member of the Alpha chapter of ΑΤΩ. Close inspection of his picture in his cadet uniform reveals that he is wearing his ΑΤΩ badge on his chest.

Dinwiddie continued his involvement with the fraternity after graduating from VMI. He was an associate editor of Alpha Tau Omega's journal the Palm and wrote many articles for the publication. Of him, former national ΑΤΩ president Joseph R. Anderson said, "During the years he was the head of the great institution in Texas he was recognized far and near as a Christian scholar as well as a wise administrator and a most useful citizen. There never lived a purer, lovelier, nobler manlier spirit."

Texas A&M College In 1879, Dinwiddie moved from Austin to the countryside outside of Bryan, Texas to join the staff of Texas A&M College. Once again, he joined his friend and fraternity brother, John Garland James who was serving as the college's 2nd president of Texas A&M. In 1883, John Garland James stepped down from his duties as the president of A&M and was succeeded by James Reid Cole. Dinwiddie argued with Leslie Waggener, the 1st President of the University of Texas, over the funding and control of Texas A&M. These debates, documented in the Austin American-Statesman, played a role in securing the institution's autonomy.

During his administration, Dinwiddie was involved in the establishment and expansion of the college across the state. He placed recruitment notices on newspaper across the state to boost enrollment. Dinwiddie lobbied for a railroad depot to be establish at the college. The station was built and was given the name College Station. This simple move made the university far more accessible and helped to alleviate the isolation felt by the students.

Death and commemoration Grave of Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie, Oakland Cemetery (Section 1, Lot 67)Dinwiddie died on December 11, 1887, in Austin, Texas, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery (Section 1, Lot 67). According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Dinwiddie died of pneumonia which was "contracted during the summer among the mountains in Colorado".

Assembly Hall commemoration

In 1889, two years after Dinwiddie's death, the construction of the Assembly Hall began on the A&M campus. In tribute to Dinwiddie, a large marble tablet commemorating him was installed in the wall of the building directly behind the pulpit. The tablet served as a reminder of his contributions and the esteem in which he was held by the Texas A&M community. As reported in 1915 by The Battalion, the A&M newspaper, the tablet underscored Dinwiddie's importance to the university:

The Assembly Hall was demolished in 1929. The whereabouts of the tablet, if it still exists, is unknown.

1900 commencement address

A final commemoration of Dinwiddie occurred during the commencement address to the Texas A&M graduating class of 1900. The address was given by John Newton Davis. Davis graduated from Texas A&M in 1885 during the Dinwiddie administration. During his address to the graduates, Davis made the following statement. No longer does the quiet, dignified form of a Dinwiddie grace the president's chair or mansion, but he lives in the heart of every co-laborer who survives him, in the heart and life of every student who knew him, in every hand that that received his kindly grasp – yea, he lives in the dignity and classic stability he gave to our college. And as long as the A. and M. shall live and her alumni breathe the free air of Texas, the name H. H. Dinwiddie will live and inspire them to higher and nobler deeds... A Dinwiddie to establish and dignify the institution — a Ross to uphold and popularize it — and a Foster to expand it into the saving hope and glory of the Empire State of Texas.

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