A new State Fair of Texas exhibition is marking 125 years of Texas Woman’s University, tracing the Denton institution’s path from a one-building campus for women to a public university system with campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston.
The TWU exhibit, Blazing New Trails: 125 Years of Texas Woman’s University, opens Sept. 25 and runs through Oct. 18 at the State Fair’s Hall of State venue. It draws on materials from Texas Woman’s Special Collections and University Archives, including selections from The Woman’s Collection.
Texas Woman’s began in 1901 as Girls Industrial College, founded after years of advocacy by civic leaders and women-led organizations. The college was established in Denton when the surrounding North Texas community was still largely known for agriculture and trade, and before Texas women could vote. Its inaugural class had one graduate.
Today, TWU is a nationally recognized, Carnegie-classified R2 research institution and the nation’s first and only woman-focused public university system. The university has more than 114,000 alumni across Texas and the nation.
“Texas Woman’s University was founded on a bold idea — that women deserve an education that prepares them not simply to participate in society, but to help shape it,” said Texas Woman’s Chancellor Carine Feyten. “For 125 years, TWU has forged a remarkable legacy of opening doors, expanding opportunity and transforming lives.”
Exhibit details
- Exhibit: Blazing New Trails: 125 Years of Texas Woman’s University
- Dates: Sept. 25 through Oct. 18
- Location: State Fair’s Hall of State venue
- Access: For State Fair of Texas visitors
What visitors will see
The exhibit uses founding-era documents, early university records and rarely seen archival materials to show TWU’s growth from a small women’s college into a nationally recognized university system.
Visitors can also explore historic photographs, campus publications, apparel, uniforms and artifacts that reflect more than a century of campus life, traditions and milestones. Other selections come from some of TWU’s noted collections, including the Women Airforce Service Pilots archive and the university’s cookbook collection.
The Woman’s Collection, established in 1932 and designated as Texas’ official women’s history collection in 1979, is central to the exhibit. The collection preserves stories of nationally known trailblazers as well as everyday women whose lives shaped communities, professions and families across generations.
The anniversary exhibition also highlights TWU’s legacy in healthcare, public service, research and leadership, with materials focused on barriers broken and opportunities opened for women in Texas and beyond.