From Brenham to Seguin: Book on the history of TLU now available

Special by Tracy Donley, TLU Communications

(Seguin) — There are storytellers and storykeepers in this world. Steve Anderson, author of Forward in Faith: A History of Texas Lutheran University, happens to be both.

And this is a story that be told. After all, it was a long time ago that a faculty of exactly two full-time professors under the supervision of a young Lutheran minister named Gottlieb Langner began work in the tiny academy that would one day become Texas Lutheran University. It must have been quite a challenge for three of them to work in that small building with a bell on the roof at the corner of Pecan and South Market Streets in Brenham, Texas. It was 1891, and Langner had been tasked with opening a Lutheran college. He was 27 years old at the time.

The story of how this small school struggled and survived, evolved and moved is a coming-of-age story full of sacrifice, challenges and triumphs. And who better to tell that story than Anderson, a dedicated archivist with deep roots in TLU himself who believes in staying true to history while shining a light on the even bigger story of how perseverance and faith can win out.

“Between 1837 and 1900, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans and other religious groups founded 59 colleges in Texas,” says Anderson. “Two-thirds of them did not survive into the 20th century. Texas Lutheran was one of the few that survived. How?”

Anderson has done extensive research to answer that question—and takes the reader along on the adventure. A TLU alumnus who graduated summa cum laude in 1977 with a degree in history and political science, he served as a parliamentary aide at the State Capitol from 1979 to 1982 and then on Texas Governor Mark White’s staff until September 1985. He then returned to his alma mater and held various administrative positions over the next 31-plus years, including senior vice president for university advancement and assistant to the president for administration and public affairs. He retired at the end of 2016 and now volunteers as the university’s archivist—a collector and keeper of all of TLU’s stories.

What prompted him to compile them into a volume? “The first published history of Texas Lutheran appeared in 1978, with a brief update appearing in 1991,” he says. “A lot has happened at TLU since then, and I felt it was important to bring that history up to date. I also wanted to provide more information about the institution’s founding and development than was included in those earlier works, and to provide more social and political context (e.g., wars, economic downturns, demographic changes) for those developments.”

So he set to work, facing a 133-year-old mountain of history. “I studied history (and political science) in college and I’m still a history buff,” he says. “Plus, TLU is in my blood – I’m an alumnus, a long-time staff member and now, since retiring, a volunteer archivist.” Anderson’s work on the book combines his passion for history with his devotion to the university. “It was a ‘labor of love’ that gave me a broader and deeper understanding of this place that was so important in my life.”

For five years, he scoured the annals of time, summarizing thousands of pages of historical documents – and even came across surprises every now and then.

Take, for example, the exam-stealing scandal in the early 1960s. “A small number of students stole copies of final exams from faculty offices – even one from the home of a relative who taught there – and sold them to other students,” Anderson says. “Another chapter in the school’s history that I found fascinating was the approach to racial integration in the 1950s. The college’s leaders at the time were determined to admit African-American students, but they were also aware of how this measure might be received by some Texas Lutheran voters. It was an interesting balancing act that they performed, but they did it successfully.”

Many stories have happened since the old bell first rang at the corner of Pecan and South Market in Brenham – a bell now installed in the center of campus, where it still rings happily for athletic victories, graduations and other celebratory occasions. And Steve Anderson, the keeper of the stories, is ready to tell them all.

Forward in Faith: A History of Texas Lutheran University is available at the TLU Bookstore, Pecantown Books & Brews, and Amazon. All net proceeds benefit TLU’s scholarship fund.