Our Heritage

Music has been a part of Baylor from its very beginnings in 1845 under the Republic of Texas, but only since the fall of 1921 has it been administered through an independently constituted school of the university. Initially—throughout the years at Independence, Texas, and for seventeen more in Waco—the music program subsisted solely as a cultural enrichment venture. Then, in 1903, it was elevated to a degree-granting department. A decade and a half later, shortly after the end of the First World War, the Department of Music joined with the Department of Expression to form the College of Fine Arts. Finally, effective with the opening of fall classes in 1921, Baylor trustees saw fit to dissolve the newly formed College of Fine Arts and create the School of Music and Fine Arts, with the Department of Expression being transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Please enjoy downloading and reading our Centennial Booklet: