In the late nineteenth century, several Texas-based groups (including the Texas Press Women's Association, the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, the Grange, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union[8]) began advocating for the creation of a state-supported women's college focused on a practical education, including domestic skills young women would need to prepare as wives and mothers. In 1901, after the state Democratic Party adopted the idea as a platform in the upcoming election, the college's establishment was authorized by the Texas Legislature. Originally named the Texas Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls of the State of Texas in the Arts and Sciences, it opened in Denton in 1902 with a class of 186 students and 14 faculty.