Albert Sidney Johnston Statue

Continuing down the South Mall, this segment explores the men behind several of the statues that once lined the mall. Most were removed in 2017 for their connections to the Confederacy. This stop explores their histories and ties to the Confederacy and to Texas.

The installation of the statues of Johnston, Reagan, and Wilson UT Austin, circa 1933, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

Many are familiar with Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army and featured in another segment of this tour. However, who were Albert Sidney Johnston, John H. Reagan, and James “Jim” Stephen Hogg? The personal, political, and social lives of these men (there are only two once-living women represented in sculptural form on campus[1]) merit consideration in order to think through their contributions, complexity, and problems and former representation on the UT campus.

Johnston, Reagan, and Hogg

Johnston was born in Kentucky and lived for a time in Austin, TX. He is buried in Austin for his services to the state as Brigadier General of the Texas Army and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas, in addition to service as the Brigadier General of the Confederacy. Johnston’s statue is currently in storage under the auspices of the Briscoe Center for American History. Born in Tennessee and buried in Texas, Reagan served as the Post Master General of the Confederacy as well as Texas as a Representative and Senator after the Civil War. He resigned his position as US senator after only two years of service to become the inaugural chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, under Hogg’s Governorship. Reagan’s statue is also in storage under the auspices of the Briscoe Center for American History. Born and raised in Texas, Hogg was the 20^th Governor and also served as the Attorney General. He too is buried in Austin.

The Statues’ Removal

In August of 2017, President Fenves of UT Austin made a public statement that the statues of Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, John Reagan and James Stephen Hogg would be removed from their place on the campus’s South Mall. Naming them as Confederate monuments, Fenves cited the removal of Lee, Johnston, and Reagan’s statues as necessary given that “Confederate monuments have become symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.” The statue of Hogg—a Texas Governor who was a child during the Civil War—was set to be removed as well, but would be “considered for re-installation at another campus site.”

The Relocation of the Hogg Statue

The removal of Lee, Johnston, and Reagan’s statues received criticism. Some claimed that their removal “erased” history and others argued that they represented valor and heritage and should not have been displaced. Although the Hogg statue was part of the original ensemble of statuary envisioned by Littlefield and crafted by Coppini, Hogg’s political history in Texas set him apart. A child during the Civil War, as governor Hogg signed a law that sustained segregation in railroad cars an initial step in the future elaboration of Jim Crow legislation in Texas. His legacy also includes passing anti-lynching laws and other populist legislation creating what UT President Fenves terms “a complicated and nuanced legacy.”

President Fenves’ inference that the statue would be relocated was confirmed in a subsequent statement released in December 2018 affirming Hogg’s contributions to state. The Hogg statue was relocated on campus between the Main Building and the Will C. Hogg Building.

For more information on the relocation of the Hogg statue:

“Statue of Gov. James Hogg.” UT News, accessed February 23, 2019, https://news.utexas.edu/key-issues/hogg-statue/

[1] There is a statue of Barbara Jordan—the first Black person elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction—erected in her honor in 2009 on the north side of the Student Union. The other statue of Jody Conradt—the head coach for the women’s basketball from 1976 to 2007—was dedicated in 2012 and is located inside the Frank Erwin Center.

Unveiling of Barbara Jordan statue, 2009, Division of Diversity and Community Engagement

Bronze Statue of Jody Conradt, 2012, texasports.com

Railroad Commission

Portrait of John H. Reagan (left) and James Hogg (right) in the foreground with Francis R. Lubbock (left), former governor and state treasurer, and A.W. Terrell (right), former legislator and regent of the University of Texas, in the back, circa 1905, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

The Railroad commission was created in 1891 by Governor Hogg to reign in the railroad monopolies and regulate the operation of that crucial industry. Its work quickly expanded to regulate the burgeoning oil and gas industry in Texas. Hogg appointed sitting US Senator and ex Confederate Post Master General J.H. Reagan be its first chair.

For more on the Railroad Commission see:

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mdr01

Here is a list of resources for exploring Hogg, Johnston, and Reagan. While they are not pre-vetted or complete, they hopefully provide a good start.

James Stephen Hogg (1851-1906)

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho17

http://www.hogghistory.org/james/

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/history/article/James-Big-Jim-Hogg-The-people-s-governor-7723284.php

Archival resource:

https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/40022/tsl-40022.html

Selected readings:

Bernhard, Virginia. The Hoggs of Texas: Letters and Memoirs of an Extraordinary Family, 1887–1906. Denton, TX: Texas State Historical Association, 2013.

Cotner, Robert, C. James Stephen Hogg: A Biography. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1959.

Hendrickson Jr., Kenneth E. The Chief of Executives of Texas: From Stephen F. Austin to John B. Connally, Jr. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1955.

Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862)

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjo32

Archival resource:

https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utarl/00013/arl-00013.html

Selected readings:

Henson, Margaret Swett. 2009. The Texas That Might Have Been: Sam Houston’s Foes Write to Albert Sidney Johnston. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 2009.

Roland, Charles P. Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 2001.

John Reagan (1818-1905)

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre02

Archival resource:

https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/90035/tsl-90035.html

Selected readings:

Procter, Ben. Not Without Honor: The Life of John H. Reagan. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press, 1971.

Reagan, John Henninger. Memoirs: with special reference to secession and the Civil War. New York and Washington DC: The Neale Publishing Company, 1906.

Images appearing in 360 video:

“James Stephen Hogg by Pompeo Coppini – University of Texas at Austin,” Wikipedia, 17 Nov. 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Stephen_Hogg_by_Pompeo_Coppini_-_University_of_Texas_at_Austin_-_DSC08609.jpg

“John H. Reagan by Pompeo Coppini – University of Texas at Austin,” Wikipedia, 17 Nov. 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_H._Reagan_by_Pomeo_Coppini_-_University_of_Texas_at_Austin_-_DSC08635.jpg

Library of Congress. “Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston,” Wikimedia Commons, 15 July 2010. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASJohnston.jpg

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. “Hon. John H. Reagan Senator from Texas,” Wikimedia Commons, 22 Nov. 2006. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Henninger_Reagan_-_Brady-Handy.jpg

Zirkel, Kenneth C. “Albert Sidney Johnston by Pompeo Coppini, University of Texas, Austin,” Wikimedia Commons, 23 Oct. 2011. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Sidney_Johnston_statue_at_Univeristy_of_Texas_Austin.jpg

Changing...

Next Stop

10. Robert E. Lee Statue

1933 architectural planning map of the University of Texas rendered by Paul Philippe Cret, with the location of the Robert E Lee tour stop marked.