George Peabody was a banker and philanthropist whose Peabody Education Fund was established in 1867 to "encourage the intellectual, moral, and industrial education of the destitute children of the Southern States."

Because of a $2 Million endowment from this fund, Sam Houston Normal Institute was able to open in 1879; money from the fund continued until 1904.� Within the Main Building were a stained glass window bearing Peabody�s name, as was a one-room library named for Peabody. In 1902, the university's first library building - and the the first seperate library building at an institution of higher education in Texas - was named the Peabody Memorial Library in grateful appreciation of Peabody’s efforts.