History

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) was formed as the Association of Collegiate Alumnae (ACA) in 1882. Within two years, there were 356 members in ACA. Eventually, members began creating local groups called branches; Washington, D.C. was the first branch and other branches were created accordingly.

The first branch formed in Texas was the Dallas branch in 1908, under the name The College Club. In 1912, in order to communicate more effectively with branches, ACA divided the country into sections (now called regions), each with an elected national officer called Regional Vice President. The state of Texas fell within the Southwest Central Section. During WWI, the difficulty in holding conferences among the sections drove the need for state divisions. The impulse to form a state division in Texas originally came from the second branch formed in Texas, the San Antonio branch, established in 1909, under the Southern Association of College Women (SACW). Later in 1921, SACW joined ACA in becoming AAUW. In order to discuss forming a state division, the San Antonio branch asked each Texas branch to send one delegate to the State Teacher's Association meeting in the fall of 1924. Unfortunately, not enough delegates attended and no organization was formed. Again, in 1925, the San Antonio branch called for delegates to attend the state Teacher's Association meeting, but again no state organization was formed.

The first Southwest Central Regional conference held in 1926 was the final impetus in organizing a Texas state division. At the conference in April 1926, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Mrs. Jessie Daniel Ames was elected chairman of the temporary organization, and the first convention of the Texas Division was arranged for October 8 and 9, 1926 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. At the time of first convention, the Texas Division consisted of 10 charter branches, including Amarillo, Austin, Commerce, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Georgetown, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Waco and contained fewer than 600 members. Since then, AAUW Texas has grown to 17 branches and more than 3,000 members. AAUW Texas prides itself in its work to create educational and equity opportunities for women and girls.