LEAGUE OF WOMEN’S VOTERS OF SOUTH CENTRAL T EXAS Contributed Article
Texas has never lacked for feisty women. Think of M.A. (“Ma”) Ferguson, the second female U.S. governor, wife of impeached Gov. James Ferguson. Think of Lady Bird Johnson and Barbara Bush, advisors to their husbands and effective advocates for their own causes. Other Texas women rose to leadership more independently: Liz Carpenter, advisor to presidents; Frances (“Sissy”) Farenthold, State Representative and first major female Vice-Presidential nominee; State Senator and U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, and Governor Ann Richards. They didn’t all see things the same way, and neither did the earlier Texans who enabled their success.
One such pioneer, Minnie Fisher Cunningham (1882-1964), spanned the Progressive, New Deal, and Post-War eras. From rural Walker County, “Minnie Fish” eventually ran for Governor and U.S. Senate, though her major contribution was leadership in a raft of organizations for women’s suffrage and political reform. As a young wife, she segued from campaigns for pure milk and better sewers to votes for women. Based at the Fisher family farm, her scope extended far beyond Texas as she worked to influence Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. Cunningham became the first executive secretary of the national League of Women Voters (LWV). She lobbied President Wilson for the 19th Amendment for women’s suffrage and contributed mightily to Texas being the 9th state to ratify it (McArthur & Smith, 2003). It came into effect on August 26, 1920, a day now recognized as Women’s Equality Day.
