{"id":3204,"date":"2023-11-16T14:33:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T20:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/?p=3204"},"modified":"2023-11-16T14:33:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T20:33:43","slug":"defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics","title":{"rendered":"Defying stereotypes. Texas women conquering politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Women have traditionally been excluded from politics, and their access to voting and electoral participation has been severely limited if not entirely denied. In the United States, women entered the political arena as early as the twentieth century, although admission to official electoral politics was preceded by demonstrations of political action. Find out more about the history of women&#8217;s suffrage in Texas, the state&#8217;s most notable politicians and the obstacles and successes on the way to gender equality at <a href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/uk\/\">houston-yes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_76 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13b0455862d\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13b0455862d\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics\/#Engaging_in_activism\" >Engaging in activism<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics\/#First_elected_positions\" >First elected positions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics\/#Empowerment\" >Empowerment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics\/#Fight_against_racism\" >Fight against racism<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics\/#First_female_mayors\" >First female mayors<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Engaging_in_activism\"><\/span>Engaging in activism<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, middle-class women in Texas organized associations to participate in public politics and seek legislative solutions to social problems. Specifically, they created petitions, wrote letters to state legislators, urged male voters not to re-vote for ineffective officials and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1880s, the Woman&#8217;s Christian Temperance Union was established, which was joined by women who experienced the problems of poverty and domestic violence that often resulted from male alcoholism. Texas women fought to stop holding juveniles along with adult criminals in prisons, as well as to outlaw the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to minors and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Texas was the only U.S. state where women were elected to high positions. In 1892, for example, Mary Clardy worked as an assistant state lecturer, and Fannie Moss was a secretary-treasurer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every year saw an increase in the number of women&#8217;s voluntary associations. The Texas Federation of Women&#8217;s Clubs was founded in 1897, followed by the Texas Association of Women&#8217;s Clubs in 1905, the Texas Congress of Mothers in 1909 and so on. Such groups cared for children with harmful addictions and delinquent youth, pushed for the improvement of the public school system, safeguarded the rights of working women, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1918, being appointed by the Texas Congress of Mothers, Lala Faye Watts became the first child welfare inspector of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1913, seamstress Eva Goldsmith, who represented the Houston branch of the United Garment Workers of America, presented legislation establishing a maximum 54-hour workweek and 10-hour workday for women. Goldsmith later became the vice chairman of the legislative committee of the Texas Federation of Labor and was successful in reducing the working day to 9 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concerned women were known as &#8220;municipal housekeepers&#8221; who insisted that city officials implement public and social reforms such as providing residents with clean water and milk, offering sanitary services, building parks and playgrounds and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dallas became the first major Texas city to elect women to school board positions. In particular, in 1908, Adella Kelsey Turner and Ella Isabelle Tucker, in particular, were given such posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thousands of women who were not officially enrolled in the Woman&#8217;s Christian Temperance Union formed temporary alliances with local centers. They staged demonstrations outside polling stations, and in the eastern part of the state, both white and black women took part in the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the outbreak of World War I, 16 organizations merged to form the Texas Women&#8217;s Anti-Vice Committee. In the summer of 1917, this committee demanded a ban on alcoholic beverages and prostitution in the state within a 15-kilometer radius of military stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"First_elected_positions\"><\/span>First elected positions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Texas Equal Suffrage Association was successful in the impeachment of demagogic governor James Ferguson, an implacable opponent of suffrage and gender equality. Annie Webb Blanton became the state&#8217;s first female official, in particular, she was elected state superintendent of public instruction. At the same time, black women were still denied the right to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 18, 1920, the US Congress enacted the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting American women the unconditional right to vote across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the first decade after voting rights were granted, women continued to influence gubernatorial elections by campaigning for progressive candidates. In 1924, James Ferguson (a suffrage opponent who was removed from office by Texas women) sought to get revenge by nominating his wife Miriam for governor of the state. She became the first female governor of Texas. This contributed to the formation of a women&#8217;s coalition against Miriam Ferguson. Despite the governor&#8217;s appointment of Emma Meharg as the first female secretary of state, most former suffragettes remained her ardent opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/09\/2kkwoqjyutqmez5upgd45byupwptozzqcj3vrgxd4aj85lfopb9vdmtxsja8a6ecksuphtxxkpi4c8mlzgkuaivop8rie6nbkatss_pk9xuu-vjwuw6beuyx-6vihih_ba4fqkdw2fzfo9ctieivqus.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Miriam Ferguson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, the decade after women were granted the right to vote did not provide the fair sex with great political influence. Efforts by the League of Women Voters and the Democratic Women&#8217;s Association to achieve equal participation of both sexes on state and county executive committees were met with resistance from Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1922, Edith Wilmans became the first elected woman to the Texas state legislature. In 1926, Margie Neal became the first female senator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Empowerment\"><\/span>Empowerment<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next 50 years, the Texas Legislature saw no more than four female legislators and one female senator. Their representation in the legislative body gradually declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1935, lawmakers Helen E. Moore and Sarah T. Hughes first amended the U.S. Constitution to allow women to serve on juries. In 1957, Texas entrepreneurs and professionals launched a campaign for the Texas Equal Rights Amendment. After years of struggle, it was ultimately adopted in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fight_against_racism\"><\/span>Fight against racism<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Black women faced double discrimination, both on the basis of gender and race. They fought for their rights through the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Association&#8217;s efforts helped Hattie Mae White become the first black woman elected to the Houston school board in 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1966, anti-racial discrimination activist Christia Adair became one of the first two African-Americans elected to the Harris County Democratic Executive Committee. She did, however, resign from the committee in protest of the infringement of the rights of the black community.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/09\/mmajqkdmxhbthg6akefjn5uewtdkwbrevi1wzmluuwi2knkr2lgm1ictm8l3gob63rjpogexiwvekafoxf_an_glglfoigrx8a0n2kgz6xvdzyt1_qck-ikwf0h2eascebdbltqhaky1vum3mbgklxy.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Christia Adair<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That same year, Barbara Jordan became the first black woman elected to the Texas Senate. Subsequently, she was also the first black woman from South America to be elected to the United States House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/09\/xtycqlxjfmj3qaonfdwzrrcyqc1otguw7uigusdcjib2mckdwfnw7wn9aargcyv-kpczmdsfaoxvo6smcghhagywqjxjiwbvxnkwtkbkmwofquzbmxwneqpn_coj3z0y2volb4k_uw08i7kiq5tmelo.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Barbara Jordan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Spanish-speaking women who immigrated to the United States from Latin America, their participation at the state level was limited until the formation of the Raza Unida party in 1970. In 1976, Irma Rangel became the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Texas House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"First_female_mayors\"><\/span>First female mayors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first female mayor of a major Texas city was Lila Cockrell, in particular, in 1989 she was elected chairman of San Antonio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.houston-yes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2023\/09\/ueaz-omoghico_ss1yd9ok1jgyt4donkj1pzh1ht2hwz1bv30mzqb5je2n9_wmi_8hrrcpr2mfmf2j1edk4yerte5sfo7xbqteu_blz4teom83d1olojauh2063xl377kt46y0vx2fiq40hjcs3dhra.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lila Cockrell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1977, Carole Keeton McClellan, the first female president of the Austin school board, was elected mayor of Austin. Over the next 15 years, female mayors were elected in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso and Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first black female mayor of a major Texas city was Ivy Taylor, who was elected to this post by San Antonio voters in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Women have traditionally been excluded from politics, and their access to voting and electoral participation has been severely limited if not entirely denied. In the United States, women entered the political arena as early as the twentieth century, although admission to official electoral politics was preceded by demonstrations of political action. Find out more about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":300,"featured_media":2832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[1390,1394,1395,1387,1397,1383,1391,1384,1385,1396,1392,1393,1386,1388,1398],"motype":[491],"moformat":[93],"moimportance":[101,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-3204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pro-polituky","8":"tag-and-their-access-to-voting-and-electoral-participation-has-been-severely-limited-if-not-entirely-denied","9":"tag-as-well-as-to-outlaw-the-sale-of-cigarettes-and-alcohol-to-minors-and-so-on","10":"tag-being-appointed-by-the-texas-congress-of-mothers","11":"tag-carole-keeton-mcclellan","12":"tag-dallas-became-the-first-major-texas-city-to-elect-women-to-school-board-positions","13":"tag-defying-stereotypes-texas-women-conquering-politics","14":"tag-engaging-in-activism","15":"tag-first-female-mayors","16":"tag-in-particular","17":"tag-lala-faye-watts-became-the-first-child-welfare-inspector-of-the-bureau-of-labor-statistics","18":"tag-middle-class-women-in-texas-organized-associations-to-participate-in-public-politics-and-seek-legislative-solutions-to-social-problems","19":"tag-texas-women-fought-to-stop-holding-juveniles-along-with-adult-criminals-in-prisons","20":"tag-the-first-female-mayor-of-a-major-texas-city-was-lila-cockrell","21":"tag-the-first-female-president-of-the-austin-school-board","22":"tag-thousands-of-women-who-were-not-officially-enrolled-in-the-womans-christian-temperance-union-formed-temporary-alliances-with-local-centers","23":"motype-eternal","24":"moformat-longrid-korotka","25":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","26":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3205,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions\/3205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houston-yes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}