Senator Matthew Gaines, 2021
By David Alan Clark – bronze and granite
Located between the Student Services Building and the Rudder Theatre Complex
Matthew Gaines was a former slave who, after emancipation, pursued a life of civil service and went on to serve in the 12th Texas Legislature as Washington County’s first African American state senator. He was a supporter of Senate Bill 276, which created Texas A&M University under the Land-Grant Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Grant.