Dallas has long prided itself on being the center of culture in northern Texas. Institutions of higher learning include Southern Methodist University (founded in 1911); Paul Quinn College (1872), a historically black private institution that moved from Waco in 1990; the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (1943); Baylor College of Dentistry (1905); Baylor School of Nursing (1909); Dallas Baptist University (1965); Dallas Christian College (1950); Dallas Theological Seminary (1924); and several campuses of Dallas County Community College (1965). Located in the surrounding metropolitan area are more than a dozen other universities and colleges, including the University of Texas at Dallas (1969), in Richardson, the University of Dallas (1956), in Irving, and the University of North Texas (1890), in Denton.
Dallas is the home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (founded in 1900) and the Dallas Opera (1957). The symphony performs in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, designed by I. M. Pei. The building is in the Dallas Arts District, also the location of the Dallas Museum of Art (1984), which was designed by American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Among the numerous other museums in the city are the Dallas Museum of Natural History (1936) and the African American Museum (1974), both in Fair Park.
