The New President Arrives
The Birdwells moved to Nacogdoches in 1922. Of his arrival, Birdwell later wrote: "I came to Nacogdoches...arriving in this city the last day of August. There were no bands at the station to meet me." Mrs. Birdwell remembered: "The Birdwells were joined soon by my mother and sister, Mrs. J. D. Garland, and Miss Columbus A. Shipe, whose help was invaluable in many ways through those early years."
President Birdwell described the conditions that faced him on his arrival:
There was an appropriation of $175,000 for a building. There was no other appropriation and there was a small fund that had accumulated from rents on a small part of the College property. The Attorney-General agreed that my salary might be paid from the building fund provided I was designated President and Supervisor of Building and Grounds. Other expenses--rent, office rent, printing, travel had to be paid from my private funds. Mrs. Birdwell acted as secretary, of course without pay.
Despite the quiet arrival, virtually everyone in East Texas would soon know Birdwell as a man of decision, energy, and resourcefulness, as a community leader, as an important educator.
Born September 18, 1870, exactly fifty-three years before SFASTC was opened, Birdwell was an East Texan who lived in the Piney Woods most of his life. He grew up, as many boys did of his time, helping his father George Preston Birdwell on the farm, riding horses, hunting "coons," and fishing the tannic streams near Elkhart, Texas. He was home-schooled by his father, after being forced from the classroom by a severe case of malaria. Later, in a manner often likened to Abraham Lincoln, Birdwell earned money for his higher education by hand molding clay bricks, splitting rails, and making railroad ties. These efforts financed a solid education at the University of Texas, the University of Missouri, and the University of Chicago.
Birdwell assumed his first teaching position at Pleasant Retreat in Smith County, Texas on July 8, 1892. Will H. Mays described Birdwell's first teaching experience in an article for the Houston Post. Mays wrote: "But here [at Pleasant Retreat] in this country community he fell in love with students and with teaching, and it is quite unnecessary to say that he pursued, by personal study and formal training, his education." Birdwell went on to serve the country schools of Smith County as a teacher, an elementary school principal, and eventually as the elected County School Superintendent.
An influential educator, A. W. Orr, described Birdwell's talent:
The principal pillar in a great state school...should be strong, smooth and firm. A. W. Birdwell is all of these. He is more--he is a scholar without having lost his common sense. . . . No man in the teachers' profession in all this part of the state stands higher with all classes than he.
For many years, Birdwell had recognized the need for universal college education for public school teachers and had thrown himself into the teachers college movement. Years later, Mrs. Birdwell, remembering their time at Southwest Texas State, said: "When he registered for a course entitled Normal School Administration in Peabody College, he remarked that Texas would have some more normal schools some day. Thus, it became evident that he knew in what direction the wind might blow." Birdwell distinguished himself at Peabody, the hub of the college movement in the south, and was called "the best all round man among the students." One professor declared that his work in education theory was "the best piece of work of the kind that has been done." Birdwell received his Master's degree from Peabody in 1916.
In 1917, A. W. Birdwell was a leading candidate to become the president of a new college in Texas. In that year, the Board of Regents for the State Normal Colleges, elected him President of what would become Stephen F. Austin State University. However, World War I and Texas politics delayed any meaningful role as President until 1921. In the meantime, still the titled president of SFA, he remained at San Marcos serving as history professor, dean, and a community leader.
During the war, at age 47, Birdwell contributed to the war effort though public service. President C. E. Evans, who succeeded Harris at Southwest, described Birdwell's efforts during the war:
[We] very early made use of A. W. Birdwell for general public service. County institutes, regional teachers associations, commercial organizations, and religious orders called for him. County and State War agencies looked to Birdwell for guidance. Hays County and the college area bulked large in efficient War Service through Birdwell's leadership....In Chambers of Commerce, Church, and in Rotary Clubs, Birdwell's efforts had large meaning. The College teacher, A. W. Birdwell, applied his rich experience of public life and broadness of scholarship in Social Science to the solution of the social, political, and governmental problems so vitally affecting the common welfare. [C. E. Evans, 1942]
On May 26, 1921, the Board of Regents again elected Birdwell as president of SFA, ratifying and confirming what the earlier board had done in 1917; they had continuously afforded him the distinction from 1918 on and refused in 1921 to look at any other applicants. Birdwell's career had been exemplary; significantly, his greatest achievements were ahead of him as he arrived in Nacogdoches that August of 1922.