Firsts by Texas Women

ALLEN, FRANCES DAISY EMERY. (1876-1958) Frances Allen was the first woman to graduate from medical school in Texas (Fort Worth University) (1897).

AMES, JESSIE HARRIET DANIEL. 1883-1972) Jessie Daniel Ames founded and served as the first president of the Texas League of Women Voters.

BELTRAM, LAURA C. Laura C. Beltram was the first Hispanic woman ordained a deacon in a Southern Baptist Church in Texas (1956).

BLANTON, ANNIE WEBB. Annie Webb Blanton was the first woman elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association, and two years later she was the first women elected to a statewide office when she became the state Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1918.

BRACKENRIDGE, ELEANOR. (1837-1924) Eleanor Brackenridge was one of the first women in the United States to serve on a financial institution's board of directors, the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company (1887). She reconvened and revitalized the Texas Woman Suffrage Association in 1913 which had been dormant since 1904 and was elected its first president.

BRADY, SUE HUFFMAN. Sue Huffman Brady organized and graded the public schools of Fort Worth and Decatur, Texas. She became the first superintendent of those schools and the first lady superintendent in Texas.

CISNEROS, EDNA. Edna Cisneros became the first Hispanic woman to be licensed in Texas an attorney in 1955.

COLEMAN, BESSIE. Bessie Coleman's achievement as "The worlds' first African American licensed pilot" was commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service with the issuance of a stamp in 1995. She received her license on June 15, 1921 in France.

CUNNINGHAM, MINNIE FISHER. Minnie Fisher Cunningham became the first Texas woman to run for the United States Senate in 1927. She became a candidate for Governor of Texas in 1944, but lost to incumbent Coke R. Stevenson. She was one of the first women to receive a degree in phaarmacy in Texas from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1901.

DELCO, WILHELMINA. Wilhelmina Delco was the first black elected to the Texas House of Representatives from Travis County in 1975. She became the first woman appointed speaker pro tempore of the Texas House of Representatives in 1991.

FARRIS, CHARLYE O. Charlye O. Farris was the first black Texas woman lawyer (1953). She graduated for Howard University Law School.

FERGUSON, MIRIAM AMANDA WALLACE. (1875-1961) Miriam Ferguson became the first woman to be elected Governor of Texas in 1924. She was elected to a second term as Governor of Texas in 1932.

FINNIGAN, ANNETTE. Annette Finnigan and her two sisters organized the Texas Women Suffrage Association in 1903.

GLASS, WILLIE LEE. Willie Lee Glass became the first black home economics consultant with the Texas Education Agency in 1950.

GILBERT, MRS. C. L. Mrs. C. L. Gilbert became the first black Democratic Precinct chair elected in Dallas.

HOBBY, OVETA CULP. (1905-1995) Oveta Culp Hobby became the first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps in 1942. She became the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

HOUSTON, TEMPLE. Temple Houston was the first child born in the Governor's mansion (1860)

HUGHES, SARAH TILGHMAN. (1896-1985) Sarah Hughes became the state's first female judge in 1931 and first woman state district judge in Texas in 1935. She became the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in Texas in 1961.

HUTCHISON, KAY BAILEY. Kay Bailey Hutchison became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1993. She was elected to be Texas State Treasurer in 1990 and held this office until she was elected to the U.S. Congress.

JOHNSON, EDDIE BERNICE. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas County was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972 and served from 1973-1977. She was the first woman to lead a major Texas House Committee (Labor Committee). She was elected to the Texas Senate where she served from 1987 to 1993. She was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1993.

JOHNSON, ELIZA SOPHIA ROBERTSON. (1868-1926) Eliza Johnson was chosen by the Texas Delegation to be the first Democratic national committeewoman from Texas in 1920.

JORDAN, BARBARA. Barbara Jordan was sworn in as Governor for a day on June 10, 1972. She was the first Black woman to serve as governor of any state. She was elected to the Texas Senate from Harris County where she served from 1967 to 1973. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972. She was the first black woman from a Sourthern state to serve in Congress. She was the Congresswoman from Houston when she delivered her famous speech on the U.S. Constitution and impeachment: We, the People" in 1974. In 1992 Barbara Jordan gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

KING, KATIE and KOUNELIAS, STACEY. Katie King and Stacey Kounelias became president and vice president of the University of Texas at Austin's student body--the first time women had held these posts in the group's 100 year history.

LONG, JANE. Jane Long gave birth to Mary James, the first Anglo child to be born in Texas (1821).

MAFFETT, MINNIE LEE. Minnie Lee Maffett served as the first president of the Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.

McCLURG, THE REVEREND PATRICIA. Patricia McClurg became the first woman to serve as president of the National Council of Churches in 1987, the largest ecumenical body in the United States.

MEHARG, EMMA GRIGSBY. (1873-1937) Emma Meharg was appointed secretary of state by Governor Miriam A., Ferguson. She was the first Texas woman secretary of state and served during 1925 and 1926.

Miers, Harriet. Harriet Miers became the first woman to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas in 1991.

MINER, ISADORE SUTHERLAND (Pen Name: Pauline Periwinkle). Pauline Periwinkle became the first woman member of the editorial staff at the Dallas Morning News (1893).

NEAL, MARGIE ELIZABETH. (1875-1971) Margie Neal was the first woman elected to the Texas Senate.

OLIVERA, MERCEDES. Mercedes Olivera became the first women chonen to be Chairman of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board in 1987.

OWEN, MAY. (1892-1988) May Owen became the first woman elected president of the Texas Medical Association in 1960.

PATTERSON, LUCY. Lucy Patterson was the first black elected to the Dallas City Council in 1973.

POTTER, CLAUDIA. Claudia Potter joined the staff at the Temple Sanitarium (now Scott and White) in 1906 and was their first female physician and anesthesiologist. “She . . . became the first physician in a Texas hospital to administer gas anesthesia in 1908.”

RAGGIO LOUISE. Louise Raggio was the first woman prosecutor for Dallas County, the first woman director of the State Bar of Texas, the first woman trustee and chair of the Texas Bar Foundation, and the first recipient of the Dallas Bar Association’s Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award. In 1995 she received the prestigious American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.

RANGEL, IRMA. Irma Rangel of Kingsville became the first Tejana state representative in 1972.

ROGERS, LORENE. Lorene Rogers became the first woman named as president of a major state University--The University of Texas in Austin in 1974.

ROTAN, KATE STURM McCALL. (1851-1931) Kate Rotan was elected the first president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs in 1896.

STINSON, KATHRINE. Kathrine Stinson made her first solo flight in an open-air Wright Model B in 1912--eleven years before Charles Lindbergh started flight training. She was history's first skywriter and the first woman to loop-the-loop.

SUMMERS, LOUISE. Louise Summers became the first woman juror in Texas on Nov. 22, 1954 in the 152nd District Court of Harris County, Texas.

TAGLE, HILDA. Hilda Tagle won confirmation to a federal district judgeship in the Southern District of Texas in Brownsville in 1998. She is the first Mexican American woman to hold such a position in U.S. history.

THOMPSON, FRANCES TRASK. Frances Trask Thompson's school in Coles Settlement (later Independence) is recognized as the first boarding school for girls in Texas (1834).

THOMPSON, LINDA CHAVEZ. Linda Chavez Thompson was elected the first Hispanic female on the executive board of the national AFL-CIO in 1995.

TRIGG, EDNA WESTBROOK. (1868-1946) Edna Westbrook Trigg was the first home demonstration agent appointed in Texas in 1916.

WARD, HORTENSE (1875-1944) was admitted to the bar in 1910 and may have been the first woman licensed to practice law in Texas. She was appointed by Texas Governor Pat Neff as chief justice of the All-Woman Supreme Court in 1925.

WILMANS, EDITH EUNICE THERREL. (1882-1966) Edith Wilmans was the first woman elected to the Texas legislature in 1922.

ZAFFARINI, JUDITH. Judith Zaffarini became the first Tejana elected to the Texas Senate in 1986.

This is just the beginning of my list of Firsts by Texas women. To be continued . . .