The People
Whites made up 71 per cent of the population and blacks, 11.5 per cent. People of Hispanic origin, mainly from Mexico, accounted for 32 per cent of the population.
| Annual events in Texas | |||
| January-March | |||
| Texas Citrus Festival in Mission (January or February); Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth (January or February); Washington’s Birthday Celebration in Laredo (January or February); Charro Days Fiesta in Brownsville (February); San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo (February); Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Exposition (February-March); Texas Independence Day (March 2). | |||
| April-June | |||
| Fiesta San Antonio (April); Texas SandFest in Port Aransas (April); Historical Pilgrimage in Jefferson (April or May); Buccaneer Days in Corpus Christi (April or May); Cinco de Mayo Celebration in Austin and elsewhere (May 5); Kerrville Folk Festival (late May and early June); Juneteenth celebrations throughout east Texas (June); Watermelon Thump in Luling (June); Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio (June). | |||
| July-September | |||
| Texas Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo in Stamford (July); State Fair of Texas in Dallas (late September and early October); AIRSHO in Midland (September). | |||
| October-December | |||
| Texas Rice Festival in Winnie, near Port Arthur (early October); Texas Rose Festival in Tyler (October); Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville (October or November); Wurstfest in New Braunfels (November); Fiesta de las Luminarias, or Festival of the Lights, in San Antonio (December). | |||
The state board of education is composed of one member elected from each congressional district. The board appoints a commissioner of education, with the consent of the governor and the senate, to serve for four years. Administration of the state school system is carried out by the Texas Education Agency, made up of the board of education, the commissioner of education, and the board of vocational education. School attendance is compulsory from age 7 to age 17.
In 1858 the state legislature established the University of Texas. However, appropriations for its support were diverted to frontier defense, and it did not open until 1883. The University of Texas now includes the main campus at Austin; medical schools at Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio; and branches at Arlington, Brownsville, Dallas, Edinburg, El Paso, Odessa, San Antonio, and Tyler.
The first state-supported institution of higher education in Texas to begin actual operation was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A–M University). It opened at College Station in 1876. It has branches at Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and Canyon.
