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John Lang Sinclair

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

(November 26, 1879 - January 4, 1947) In 1899, John Lang Sinclair became a student at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin. The first UT band was formed in 1900 and Sinclair, possessing an aptitude for music, joined it as well as the Glee Club. The student head of the Glee Club, Lewis Johnson, urged Sinclair to write a school song in 1903. His first attempt was "The Jolly Students of Varsity." His second, to the tune of "I've Been Working on The Railroad," was "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You." UT President William L. Prather, formerly a student at Washington College (later Washington and Lee University), had often heard Robert E. Lee admonish his students, "The Eyes of The South Are Upon You." Prather altered the saying for use at UT, and Sinclair borrowed it for his song. "The Eyes of Texas," first performed at a minstrel show at Austin's Hancock Opera House to benefit the UT track team, was an instant success. Sinclair graduated in 1904 and returned to his family's dairy farm in eastern Bexar County. When Prather died in 1905, his family requested a performance of "The Eyes of Texas" at his funeral. Sinclair moved to New York City, where he and his wife, Stella Anderson of San Antonio (also a UT graduate) were active in the New York Texas Exes' Association. The song was so popular throughout the nation that many confused it with the official state song of Texas. After years of copyright battles, the UT acquired the rights to it in the 1980s. According to the university magazine "The Alcalde," the chimes atop the UT tower played "The Eyes of Texas" during Sinclair's San Antonio funeral. Though he revised the words from the original version, the spirit of the song remained the same. Its popularity continues at the dawn of the 21st century. (2000)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

As a University of Texas student around 1903, John Lang Sinclair set new lyrics to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and produced "The Eyes of Texas." The refrain borrowed a phrase UT's president had adapted from Robert E. Lee, and the song was an instant hit at its Austin debut. Sinclair later moved to New York, but the anthem outgrew him — so beloved that many mistook it for the official state song.

Why it matters

A student's casual composition became one of America's most recognizable college songs, a small window into how school spirit and popular culture took shape at the turn of the twentieth century.

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  • · John Lang Sinclair
  • · William L. Prather

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