Dr. Rufus Columbus Burleson

Burleson's work outside Baylor reached into public and Black education. In 1869 he began working unofficially for the Peabody Education Fund, winning over opponents of public schools by proposing teachers' institutes and a state training school. In 1872 he asked Nathan Bishop of New York for help founding a college for Black Texans. The Handbook's Bishop College entry says Bishop agreed to give $25,000 but died before sending it; his widow, Carolina, gave $10,000 and Bishop College opened at Marshall in 1881. The entry for Burleson himself puts the gift at least $35,000.

What the plaque says

Dr. Rufus Columbus Burleson Pioneer preacher, president of Baylor University. Born in Alabama August 7, 1823. Died May 14, 1901. His wife Georgia J. Burleson born September 23 1833, died June 11, 1924.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Armstrong Browning Library — 0.7 mi
  A three-story Italian Renaissance library on the Baylor campus built to hold A. J. Armstrong's Browning collection, dedicated in December 1951 and now, by its own account, the world's largest of Browning material.
• Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum — 1.3 mi
  The official state repository of Texas Ranger memorabilia, opened in 1968 in Fort Fisher Park on the Brazos, named for a Ranger post of 1837 whose site no one has located.
• Dr Pepper Museum — 1.6 mi
  The 1906 bottling plant of the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, built where Dr Pepper outgrew a Waco drugstore soda fountain, now the Dr Pepper Museum.
• Waco Suspension Bridge — 1.9 mi
  A Brazos crossing opened in January 1870 as the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi, tolled until 1889, closed to vehicles in 1971 and now walked.

More markers nearby

• Robertson — steps away
• Hallie Earle, M.D. — steps away
• Oakwood Cemetery — steps away
• Canuteson, Ole — steps away