TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

CELEBRATION & SCHOLARSHIP

FUNDRAISER

SPECIAL THANKS TO EVENT SPONSORS:

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes

Amy H. Hawkins

Chad Waddell

Christopher Bjornson

Connelly Commercial Real Estate

EXIT Capitol Realty

And a "Texas-Sized" thank you to our silent auction donors...

Changing Light - artwork donated by Austin artist Rebecca Bennett

Sunset #1 - 16" x 20" framed print donated by Austin artist Rita Kirkman

The Cause

History

Contact Us

THE CAUSE

All of the money raised by the D.C. Texas Exes goes towards funding scholarships for local Washington D.C. area high school students to attend the University of Texas at Austin and to provide financial support for UT students who obtain internships in the D.C. metropolitan area while in school.  Last year, the chapter was able to award more than $5000 to five deserving students.  Let's make it even more this year!!

HISTORY

On February 23, 1836 General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna army of more than 6,000 began its siege on the Alamo in San Antonio, catching the citizens of the city by surprise.  William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas:

Fellow Citizens and Compatriots: I am besieged with a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual Bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison is to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly over the wall. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due his honor and that of his country--VICTORY OR DEATH. William Barrett Travis, Lt. Col. Commander

On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.

With the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over � all except one did. 

Seven days into the siege, 54 men convened in the small settlement of Washington-on-the-Brazos.  The following day, March 2, 1836 the delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, liberating Texas from Mexico.  Four days later, on March 6, the Alamo fell to Santa Anna's army, never having learned that Texas had declared its independence.  

On April 21, Gen. Sam Houston, commander of the Texas army, staged a surprise attack on the Santa Anna and the Mexican army at San Jacinto.  With cries of "Remember the Alamo," the Texan army took control of the Mexican camp within 18 minutes.  Santa Anna surrendered and the Republic of Texas was born.  Less than 10 years later, Texas was annexed by the United States.

The Battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21, 1836, near the present city of Houston. Santa Anna's entire force of 1,600 men was killed or captured by Gen. Sam Houston's army of 800 Texans; only nine Texans died. This decisive battle resulted in Texas' independence from Mexico

CONTACT US

For questions or comments, please call Special Events Director D'Ann Faught at 571-244-1827 or email D'Ann Faught.

TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

A celebration of Texas Independence Day at the University of Texas began in grand style in 1897.  University Students asked for a holiday so they could celebrate Texas' independence.

President G. T. Winston, who had just come form the University of North Carolina, refused the student's request.  In fact, Winston reminded them that the only Independence Day he was going to celebrate was July 4th, and he reminded the persistent law students that Texas was part of the United States.

Not to be brushed off, the students went to the Capital grounds and proceeded to "exercise their inalienable right to liberty and pursuit of happiness."  They borrowed a cannon and returned to campus where they celebrated by firing shots down University Avenue.

The firing was so intense that it shattered windows in the Main Building.  The boys were ordered to remove the cannon.  Later when everything was quiet, a roar was heard from Clark Field.  The "Sons of Liberty" were at it again.  This time the firing of the cannon had gathered a crowd of about 400 students and would-be lawyers seized the opportunity and engaged in oratory which later made some of them famous.

President Winston finally decided to join the group and made his famous speech that later became tradition:

"I was born in the land of liberty, rocked in the cradle of liberty, nursed on the bottle of liberty, and I've had liberty preached to me all of my live;  but Texas University students take more liberty than anyone I've every come in contact with ..."

As early as 1900, March 2 became a day for Texas Exes to observe a holiday.  A great deal of tradition and sentiment surrounds the celebration on the local level.  In that year, The Ex-Students Association adopted a resolution:

Whenever two ex-students of the University of Texas shall meet on Texas Independence Day, they shall sit and break bread and pay tribute to the institution which made their education possible.

Source:  UT Austin Traditions, Dr. Margaret Berry