10/07/2026
Come visit the campus. Be part of the Legacy. Be Lion Made.
You’re invited to Mane Event: Saturday, October 17, 2026 and see for yourself!
Register for FREE TODAY!
https://www.etamu.edu/mane-event/
🎓 William L. Mayo spent nearly three decades building a Texas school. On the day its future was finally secured, he died before learning the news.
Mayo founded East Texas Normal College in Cooper in 1889 as a private teachers’ college. When fire destroyed the campus in 1894, he didn’t abandon the school. He moved it to Commerce and rebuilt.
Under Mayo, the college became especially known for preparing teachers for rural Texas schools. By 1917, enrollment had grown to nearly 2,000 students. Wanting the institution to survive beyond him, Mayo worked to have the State of Texas purchase the college and bring it into the state system.
On March 14, 1917, word reached Commerce that the Texas House had passed the legislation needed for the purchase. While returning from the telegraph office, Mayo suffered a heart attack and died shortly afterward.
The school survived.
More than a century later, the institution Mayo founded continues in Commerce as East Texas A&M University.
His life’s work became bigger than one man—and lasted far beyond him.
