Recent Stories
Urban Renewal
Urban renewal programs swept across the United States in the mid-twentieth century. Funded by the federal government, cities throughout the country sought to improve local architecture and expand residential areas by purchasing and decimating…
Waco Hall
Without the construction of Waco Hall, Baylor University might reside in Dallas, Texas. In the early 1900s, some Baylor representatives pushed for the university to relocate and had already placed parts of the institution in Dallas, including the…
Shep Mullens
At the end of the Civil War, a new nation seemed to be on the horizon. Emancipation and the beginning of Reconstruction signaled a shift in national, state, and local institutions across the country. The Reconstruction Era, though certainly flawed,…
St. James United Methodist Church
St. James United Methodist Church, originally a Methodist Episcopal church, has existed almost as long as the city of Waco itself. Founded in 1874 by Anderson Brack, a formerly enslaved man, the congregation started with roughly fifty-three members.…
Freedom Fountain
Tragedy marked the experiences of many during the Vietnam War. On the home front, Americans increasingly questioned the country’s role in the conflict and lamented the loss they watched unfold throughout the first widely televised war. Americans…
Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, heard the news of their freedom. More than two years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation to establish the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate States…
Featured Stories
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
During the 1960s and 70s, the Vietnam War rocked American communities from coast to coast, leaving death and division in its wake. McLennan County was no exception. The Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands on the banks of the Brazos River as a…
Andrew Lewis Cooper
Known throughout the nation for his pitching prowess, Andy Cooper made a name for himself at a time when segregation placed limits on black baseball.
Now known as the nation’s pastime, baseball has captivated Americans since the early nineteenth…
Ramsey Muñiz
When Ramiro “Ramsey” Muñiz ran for governor of Texas in 1972, he became the first candidate of Hispanic descent to run for the state’s gubernatorial seat. Despite Muñiz’s controversial legacy, his career was, for many, as inspiring as it was…
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Brazos River
10 Locations ~ Curated by Baylor University Institute for Oral History & The Texas CollectionAfrican American History
27 Locations ~ Curated by Baylor University Institute for Oral History & The Texas CollectionAthens of Texas
4 Locations ~ Curated by Baylor University Institute for Oral History & The Texas CollectionWaco History Podcast
Dr. Stephen Sloan of Baylor’s Institute for Oral History talks with others about Waco’s known and unknown past. This is the Waco History Podcast.
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