What would Austin be without women? We can’t say for sure, but there’s a chance it wouldn’t be the state capital, or it might be barren of trees, and dozens of local landmarks would bear different names.
As we say goodbye to another Women’s History Month, let’s get to know a few of them.
Ann Richards (1933-2006)
Born and raised in Texas, Dorothy Ann Richards was a high school state debate champion before she attended Baylor University for undergrad and UT Austin for her teaching certificate. She was elected Texas Governor from 1991-1995, during which time she focused on bringing women and minorities into public office, introducing substance abuse recovery programs into prisons, and discouraging polluters.
Today, she has a local school named after her, the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, and the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge also honors her name. You can read more about her in her book, “Straight from the Heart: My Life in Politics and Other Places.”
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)
A national debate champion in her youth — similar to her future colleague Ann Richards — Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, public speaker, and educator in Texas. A trailblazer of statewide politics, Jordan would become the first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate in 1966 — and the first Black senator elected in Texas since 1883. President Lyndon Baines Johnson invited her to the White House to preview his civil rights message the next year. She would become the first Black woman from the South to be elected to U.S. Congress in 1972.
Jordan retired from Congress in 1979, and shortly after, she wrote “Barbara Jordan, a Self-Portrait” and became a UT Austin professor. You can visit two statues of the icon in Austin — one at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and another on UT Austin’s campus.
Margret Hofmann (1925-2012)
Margret Hofmann — born in Germany in 1925 — immigrated to the US in 1946 and would soon become Austin’s biggest advocate for trees. Thanks to Hofmann, the Capital City became one of the first cities in the US to pass a tree protection ordinance back in 1983. The movement was spearheaded by Hofmann (aka the “Tree Lady”), who compared protecting historical trees to protecting historical buildings. Protecting the city’s “oldest citizens” was so important to her that she created Austin’s first tree registry in 1976.
Carole Keeton (1939-present)
A native to Austin, Carole Keeton studied government at UT Austin and began serving on the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees in 1972 before she was elected head of the board in 1976.
Just a year later, she became Austin’s first female mayor and was the city’s first mayor to serve three consecutive terms, holding office until 1983. Keeton also embarked on several other political campaigns, including for Railroad Commissioner, Comptroller of Public Accounts, and an unsuccessful run for Texas governor. She lives in Austin to this day.
Angelina Eberly (1798-1860)
Ever wondered who the statue of a woman lighting a cannon on Congress Avenue is? That’s Angelina Eberly, an 1800s innkeeper at the Eberly House.
When a militia party stormed the Texas Republic Archives — on a mission to help move the state capital from Austin to Houston — late in the evening in 1842, Eberly awoke and shot a cannon in her nightgown (supposedly) to sound the alarm. The thieves were caught in Round Rock, Austin remains the state capital to this day, and Eberly is permanently enshrined in her bedclothes.
There are plenty more women to admire in this town. Who else would you like to see on this list? Send us a line with your recs.
