Women | US-TX | Texas

1830s

Charcila Cecilia Moore Morse (03 jun 1838 – 13 jun 1926 | Anahuac TX – Tampa FL) citrus farmer, pioneer educator, founded St. Anthony Catholic School (now the oldest parochial school in Florida) 


1840s

Matilda Coxe Evans Stevenson (12 may 1849 – 24 jun 1915 | San Augustine TX – Oxon Hill MD) author, ethnologist, Zuni expert / researcher, Women’s Anthropological Society of America president, aka Tilly E. Stevenson


1850s

May Dickson Exall (14 aug 1859 – 28 sep 1936 | McKinney TX – Dallas TX) civic leader, clubwoman, arts activist, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts co-founder 


1860s


1870s

Hortense Sparks Ward (20 jul 1872 – 05 dec 1944 | Matagorda TX – Houston TX) writer, lawyer, suffragist, pamphleteer, women’s rights activist, first female attorney admitted to Texas bar, first female registered voter in Harris County, Special Chief Justice of first woman’s Appellate Court of Texas

Clara McDonald Williamson (20 nov 1875 – 17 feb 1976 | Iredall TX – Dallas TX) self-taught painter, American Naïve artist

Lola Maverick Lloyd (24 nov 1875 – 25 jul 1944 | Castroville TX – Winnetka IL) author, pacifist, feminist, suffragist, social / political activist, co-founded Campaign for World Government, founding member of Woman’s Peace Party and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom [WILPF]

Frances Daisy Emery Allen (05 sep 1876 – 07 dec 1958 | Kaufman County TX – Fort Worth TX) pioneering female physician, first female medical school graduate in Texas, one of first female physicians to practice in Tarrant County

Jane Yelvington McCallum (30 dec 1877 – 14 aug 1957 | LaVernia TX – Austin TX) author, suffrage / prohibition activist, longest-serving Secretary of State of Texas, one of first mothers to attend UTexas at Austin, first married woman to join UTA sorority


1880s

Lillian Bertha Jones Horace (29 apr 1880 – 06 aug 1965 | Jefferson TX – Fort Worth TX) writer, novelist, publisher, pioneering educator, one of two black female publishers in US before 1920

Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush (05 aug 1880 – 05 sep 1962 | Navasota TX – Des Moines IA) attorney, first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, National Bar Association co-founder

Olga Samaroff (08 aug 1880 – 17 may 1948 | San Antonio TX – New York NY) pianist, teacher, music critic, first woman to self-produce piano debut at Carnegie Hall, first music teacher broadcast on NBC television, autobiographical author, née Lucy Mary Agnes Hickenlooper

Mary Sabina Daggett Lake (11 nov 1880 – 01 mar 1955 | Fort Worth TX – Fort Worth TX) author, botanist, historian, educator, genealogist, folklorist, civic activist, songwriter, garden club movement leader, co-creator Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Minnie Fisher Cunningham (19 mar 1882 – 09 dec 1964 | New Waverly TX – New Waverly TX) politician, suffragist, League of Women Voters first executive secretary, Women’s National Democratic Club co-founder

Ima Hogg (10 jul 1882 – 19 aug 1975 | Mineola TX – London, England) heiress, philanthropist, arts patron / collector, aka The First Lady of Texas

Leonie von Meusebach-Zesch (27 nov 1882 – 07 jul 1944 | Mason County TX – Oakland CA) memoirist, social activist, pioneer dentist / dental surgeon, first mobile dental clinic innovator

Jessie Daniel Ames (02 nov 1883 – 21 feb 1972 | Palestine TX – Austin TX) suffragist, civil / social rights / anti-lynching activist

Clara Belle Drisdale Williams (29 oct 1885 – 03 jul 1994 | Plum TX – Chicago IL) first African-American graduate New Mexico State University


1890s

Katherine Anne Porter (15 may 1890 – 18 sep 1980 | Indian Creek TX – Silver Spring MD) poet, novelist, essayist, journalist, political activist, née Callie Russell Porter

Elizabeth [Bessie] Coleman (26 jan 1892 – 30 apr 1926 | Atlanta TX – Jacksonville FL) African-American, first black US female aviator, studied in France since US aviation schools did not allow black or female students

Waldine Amanda Tauch (28 jan 1892 – 31 mar 1986 | Schulenburg TX – San Antonio TX) sculptor

Alva Christine Ellisor (26 apr 1892 – 22 sep 1964 | Galveston TX – Galveston TX) author, geologist, researcher, one of first female stratigraphers in North America, known for contributions to fields of micro-paleontology / Gulf of Mexico geology

Christia Daniels Adair (22 oct 1893 – 31 dec 1989 | Victoria TX – Houston TX) teacher, suffragist, civil rights activist, executive secretary of Houston NAACP, co-founder of Harris County Democrats, first African–American woman elected to TX Democratic Executive Committee [refused to sit in protest], first female general board member of Methodist Episcopal Church

Corrine Mae Griffith (21 nov 1894 – 13 jul 1979 | Texarkana TX – Santa Monica CA) author, actress, producer

Francelia Billington (01 feb 1895 – 24 nov 1934 | Dallas TX – Glendale CA) silent film actress, cinematographer

Rose Dorothy Lewin Franken (28 dec 1895 – 22 jun 1988 | Gainesville TX – Tucson AZ) artist, author, playwright

Lois Fitzhugh Foster Blount (24 may 1896 – 02 sep 1980 | Huntsville TX – Nacodoches TX) teacher, historian, librarian, museum curator

Mae Elizabeth [Hope] Hampton (19 feb 1897 – 23 jan 1982 | Houston TX – New York NY) actress, producer, aspiring opera singer

Kathleen Blackshear (06 jun 1897 – 14 oct 1988 | Navasota TX – Navasota TX) artist, teacher, mentor, illustrator, Modernist painter, known for sensitive depictions of African-American subjects

Hazel Vaughn Leigh (27 jul 1897 – 27 apr 1995 | Fort Worth TX – Fort Worth TX) civic leader, philanthropist, founding director Fort Worth Boys Club, charter member American Legion Auxiliary and National Association of Social Workers


1900s

Phyllis Virginia [Bebe] Daniels (14 jan 1901 – 16 mar 1971 | Dallas TX – London, England) American-British singer, dancer, actress, film producer, cookbook author, BBC radio show co-host

Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli Cravath (19 dec 1901 – 24 may 1974 | San Antonio TX – Berkeley CA) WPA-era artist and muralist

Fay M. Jackson (08 may 1902 – 03 jun 1979 | Dallas TX – Los Angeles CA) journalist, columnist, founded news weekly Flash, cultural / international reporter, first  credentialed African-American Hollywood correspondent

Gwendolyn Bennetta Bennett (08 jul 1902 -30 may 1981 | Giddings TX – West Reading PA) poet, short story writer, cultural commentator

Zelma Watson George (08 dec 1903 – 03 jul 1994 | Hearne TX – Shaker Heights OH) aka Zelmaa, opera singer, librettist, philanthropist, African-American expert / research specialist

Lenora Butler Rolla (04 mar 1904 – 29 jun 2001 | near Palestine / Neches TX – Fort Worth TX) educator, historian, civil rights leader, community activist, African-American, founded the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society

Jean Vaughn Gilbert (11 nov 1904 – 02 dec 1975 | Texarkana TX – Honolulu HI) attorney, first female appointed Honolulu City-County Attorney, record-setting high academic scores at University of Southern California Law

Oveta Culp Hobby (19 jan 1905 – 16 aug 1995 | Killeen TX – Houston TX) attorney, politician, newspaper editor / vice-president, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Women’s Army Corps first commanding officer

Frances Sanger Mossiker (09 apr 1906 – 09 may 1985 | Dallas TX – Dallas TX) historical / biographical novelist

Allene Rosalind Jeanes (19 jul 1906 – 11 dec 1995 | Waco TX – Urbana IL) author, essayist, presenter, patents recipient, chemical researcher, developed Dextran plasma replacement during Korean War

Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid (22 oct 1906 – 08 jun 1994 | Waco TX – Fairfax VA) teacher, real estate broker, Quaker activist, Virginia State legislator

Mary Ellen Bute (21 nov 1906 – 17 oct 1983 | Houston TX – New York NY) visual musician, pioneering animator, experimental filmmaker

Jessie Maye Smith (08 apr 1907 – 05 apr 2005 | Wilbarger County TX – Fort Worth TX) author, columnist, conservationist, self-taught ornithologist, aka The Bird Lady of Tarrant County

Hazel Harvey Peace (04 aug 1907 – 08 jun 2008 | Waco TX – Fort Worth TX) pioneering African-American educator, civil right activist, humanitarian

Elizabeth Nye Sorrell (04 feb 1909 – 15 jul 2007 | Laredo TX – San Antonio TX) teacher, journalist, social activist, political critic, society columnist

Mary Brian (17 feb 1906 – 30 dec 2002 | Corsicana TX – Del Mar CA) actress, portrait painter, born Louise Byrdie Dantzler

Mary Ammirato-Collins (03 apr 1908 – unknown | Hortense TX – unknown) poet, artist, enameller, librettist

Gertrude Abercrombie (17 feb 1909 – 03 jul 1977 | Austin TX – Chicago IL) avant-garde/surrealist painter, aka The Queen of the Bohemian Artists

Nell O’Day (22 sep 1909 – 03 jan 1989 | Prairie Hill TX – Los Angeles CA) actress, equestrian, playwright, screenwriter


1910s

Cleo Rickman Fitch (16 jun 1910 – 05 jan 1995 | Carlsbad TX – Manhattan NY) author, archaeologist, research focus on Roman lamps

Sarah Newcomb McClendon (08 jul 1910 – 08 jan 2003 | Tyler TX – Washington DC) journalist, memoirist, political reporter

Jean Howard (13 oct 1910 – 20 mar 2000 | Longview TX – Beverly Hills CA) author, actress, photographer, née Ernestine Mahoney

Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau (27 oct 1910 – 12 jan 2000 | Houston TX – Weston MA) chemical engineer, [after retirement] overseer of Boston Symphony Orchestra, first female member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, designed first commercial penicillin production plant

Margo Jones (12 dec 1911 – 24 jul 1955 | Livingston TX – Dallas TX) author, stage director / producer, US regional theatre movement innovator

Electra Carlin (28 sep 1912 – 19 feb 2000 | Fort Worth TX – Fort Worth TX) art dealer, gallery owner, philanthropist, aka Dean of Fort Worth Art Dealers, first / longest-running private art gallery founded and operated by women

Dale Evans Rogers (31 oct 1912 – 07 feb 2001 | Uvalde TX – Apple Valley CA) singer, author, actress, memoirist, born Lucille Wood Smith

Electra Waggoner Biggs (08 nov 1912 – 23 apr 2001 | Fort Worth TX – Vernon TX) sculptor, socialite

Claudia Alta Taylor [Lady Bird] Johnson (22 dec 1912 – 11 jul 2007 | Karnack TX – West Lake Hills TX) journalist, social / cultural activist, US Presidential First Lady

Azellia White (03 jun 1913 – 15 sep 2019 | Gonzales TX – Houston TX) aviator, first female African-American to earn US pilot’s license, co-founded / co-managed Sky Ranch Flying Service for African-American pilots

Elaine Anderson Steinbeck (14 aug 1914 – 27 apr 2003 | Austin TX – New York NY) actress, memoirist, theater stage manager

Frances Kavanaugh (05 feb 1915 – 23 jan 2009 | Dallas TX – Encino CA) scriptwriter, art therapist, known for writing B-Westerns, aka Cowgirl of the Typewriter

Eloise Jarvis McGraw (09 dec 1915 – 30 nov 2000 | Houston TX – Portland OR) young adult novelist, children’s book author

Lydia Mendoza (21 may 1916 – 20 dec 2007 | Houston TX – San Antonio TX) Tejano singer / guitarist, National Medal of Arts recipient, aka La Alondra de la Frontera / Lark of the Border

Emma Tenayuca (21 dec 1916 – 23 jul 1999 | San Antonio TX – San Antonio TX) educator, labor leader, union organizer, peaceful political /  civil rights activist, founded two international ladies’ garment workers unions

Anna Carter Gordon Davis (15 feb 1917 – 05 mar 2004 | Shannon TX – Fort Worth TX) Louisiana State First Lady, pioneering country / gospel singer

Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker (23 apr 1917 – 07 jul 2008 | San Antonio TX – Falls Church VA) autobiographical author, one of first US supermodels, founded first legal French modeling agency

Patricia Pauline C.  Bienek Gallagher (18 aug 1917 – 16 jun 2006 | Lockhart TX – San Antonio TX) historical romance novelist

Janet Darnell Leach (15 mar 1918 – 12 sep 1997 | Grand Saline TX – Cornwall UK) studio potter, political activist, anthroposophist

Mary Kay Ash (12 may 1918 – 22 nov 2001 | Hot Wells TX – Dallas TX) author, businesswoman, autobiographer

Idanell Brill Connally (24 feb 1919 – 01 sep 2006 | Austin TX – Austin TX) author, philanthropist, First Lady of Texas, political / historical figure

Heloise Bowles Cruse (04 may 1919 – 28 dec 1977 | Fort Worth TX – San Antonio TX) Hints from Heloise author / originator / columnist

Valerie Elizabeth Bettis (20 dec 1919 – 26 sep 1982 | Houston TX – New York NY) modern dancer, stage director, choreographer


1920s

Ernestine Story Carr (22 apr 1920 – 06 oct 2013 | Wylie TX – Austin TX) artist, teacher, gardener, birdwatcher, watercolorist, political family member

Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter (01 sep 1920 – 20 mar 2010 | Salado TX – Austin TX) writer, feminist, former reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert

Mary [Patricia] Plangman Highsmith (19 jan 1921 – 04 feb 1995 | Fort Worth TX – Locarno, Switzerland) novelist, short story writer, crime fiction author

Lila May Banks Cockrell (19 jan 1922 – 29 aug 2019 | Fort Worth TX – San Antonio TX) politician, WWII Navy WAVE, former San Antonio Texas Mayor, League of Women Voters activist / chapter president

Mary Evelyn Blagg Huey (19 jan 1922 – 27 jun 2017 | Wills Point TX – Denton TX) educator, English professor, president of Texas Woman’s University

Cyd Charisse (08 mar 1922 – 17 jun 2008 | Amarillo TX – Los Angeles CA) dancer, actress, memoirist, documentarian

Valree Fletcher Wynn (09 may 1922 – Rockwall TX) former educator, first African-American professor at Cameron University, first African-American on Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges

Liz Smith (02 feb 1923 – 12 nov 2017 | Fort Worth TX – Manhattan NY) author, journalist, memoirist, gossip columnist, cookbook writer, aka The Grand Dame of Dish

Ruth Carter Stevenson (19 oct 1923 – 06 jan 2013 | Fort Worth TX – Fort Worth TX) patron of arts, founder / first board president Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Adlene Harrison (19 nov 1923 – Dallas TX) politician, oral historian, first female and first Jewish mayor of Dallas

Etta Hulme (22 dec 1923 – 25 jun 2014 | Somerville TX – Arlington TX) editorial cartoonist

Doris Gwendolyn Willett Tate (16 jan 1924 – 10 jul 1992 | Houston TX – Palos Verdes CA) Crime Victims Rights Movement leader, mother of Manson murder victim Sharon Tate, Coalition on Victims’ Equal Rights [COVER] founder

Annette Greenfield Strauss (26 jan 1924 – 14 dec 1998 | Houston TX – Houston TX) author, fundraiser, philanthropist, community activist, homeless family advocate, Family Gateway visionary, second female / Jewish Mayor of Dallas

Byrd Baylor Schweitzer (28 mar 1924 – San Antonio TX) novelist, essayist, children’s picture book author

Mary Ellen Estill Rudin (07 dec 1924 – 18 mar 2013 | Hillsboro TX – Madison WI) author, essayist, mathematician, set-theoretic topology specialist

Ravenna Mathews Helson (13 feb 1925 – 02 oct 2020 | Austin TX –  Corpus Christi TX) professor, research psychologist, focus on psychology of women and creativity, pioneer in the study of women’s lives, worked at Institute of Personality Assessment and Research [IPAR]

Anita Nanez Martinez (08 dec 1925 – Dallas TX) Mexican-American, social / youth activist, City Council member, founded Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico and Anita Martinez Recreation Center

Lou Halsell Rodenberger (21 sep 1926 – 09 apr 2009 | Eastland County TX – Callahan County TX) author, journalist, college professor, Texas women writers’ biographer

Frances Tarlton [Sissy] Farenthold (02 oct 1926 – Corpus Christi TX) author, attorney, educator, politician, human rights activist

Martha Blackman (01 jan 1927 – Dallas TX) lutenist, Fulbright Scholar, academic writer, viola da gamba player, first American viol teacher and performer

Carolyn George d’Amboise (06 sep 1927 – 10 feb 2009 | Dallas TX – New York NY) prima ballerina, photographer, aka Tweety Bird

Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn (28 dec 1928 – 26 jun 2017 | Dallas TX – Ottawa, Ontario) American-Canadian children’s writer, first children’s author Chair of Writers’ Union of Canada

Myra Yvonne Chouteau (07 mar 1929 – 24 jan 2016 | Fort Worth TX – Oklahoma City OK) ballerina, one of the Five Moons Native American prima ballerinas

Georgianna Yvonne Young Clark (13 apr 1929 – 27 jan 2019 | Houston TX – Nashville TN) pioneering African-American female engineer, first female Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Howard U, first female master’s degree in Engineering Management from Vanderbilt U, first female professor in College of Engineering and Technology at Tennessee State University

Jean Porter Hester (15 jun 1929 – Big Spring TX) author, essayist, physician, professor, focus on cancer therapy research, co-developed computerized blood cell separator

Joanne Johnson King Herring (03 jul 1929 – Houston TX) socialite, diplomat, memoirist,  philanthropist, businesswoman, political activist, former television talk show host

Katherine Marie Helmond (05 jul 1929 – 23 feb 2019 | Galveston TX – Los Angeles CA) director, tv / film / theater actress, Zen practitioner


1930s

Pauline Oliveros (30 may 1932 – 24 nov 2016 | Houston TX – Kingston NY) author, teacher, composer, memoirist, accordionist, deep listening advocate, electronic music pioneer

Anne Leaton (13 jul 1932 – 26 jan 2016 | Cleburne TX – Fort Worth TX)) poet, novelist, radio playwright, short story writer, former Fulbright Scholar

Carol Creighton Burnett (26 apr 1933 – San Antonio TX) writer, actress, comedian

Ella Lee (10 jun 1933 – 16 sep 2013 | Tyler TX – Los Angeles CA) operatic dramatic soprano

Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (01 sep 1933 – 13 sep 2006 | Lakeview TX – Austin TX) politician, governor, autobiographical author

Vivian Dorraine Liberto Distin (16 apr 1934 – 24 may 2005 | San Antonio TX – Ventura CA) painter, crafts artist, memoirist / autobiographical author

Karen Sharpe Kramer (20 sep 1934 – San Antonio TX) tv / film actress / producer, film library / foundation administrator

Rosa Ramirez Guerrero (14 nov 1934 – El Paso TX) artist, educator, historian, lecturer, Mexican-American, Catholic activist, aka The Dancing Missionary, focus on multicultural tapestry, founded International Folklorico Dance Group

Eloisa Garcia Tamez (02 mar 1935 – Cameron County TX) Lipan Apache nurse, lecturer, professor, civil rights leader, lecturer, retired US Army  Nursing Corps officer, litigant / opponent of Texas-Mexico border wall

Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt (16 jul 1935 – Houston TX) heiress, socialite, philanthropist, patron of arts, taekwondo black belt, preventive health and wellness advocate

Judith M. LeBlanc (03 jan 1936 – Beaumont TX) author, teacher, psychologist, special education researcher

Barbara Charline Jordan (21 feb 1936 – 17 jan 1996 | Houston TX – Austin TX) politician, memoirist, civil rights movement leader, first Southern black female US Representative

Peggy Joan Maxie (18 aug 1936 – Amarillo TX) social worker, mental health counselor, former Washington State politician, first elected black female WA Representative

Carolyn Joan Clark Pollan (12 jul 1937 – Houston TX) educator, businesswoman, State politician

Jennie Elizabeth [J. E.] Franklin (10 aug 1937 – Houston TX) playwright

Diane Silvers Ravitch (01 jul 1938 – Houston TX) author, research professor, policy analyst, educational historian, former US Assistant Secretary of Education

Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (31 aug 1938 – Dallas TX) novelist, journalist, playwright

Elizabeth [Betty] Sharp Adcock (16 sep 1938 – San Augustine TX) poet, professor, Guggenheim Fellow

Mary Fanett Wheeler (28 dec 1938 – Cuero TX) author, mathematician

Glenna Maxey Goodacre (28 aug 1939 – 13 apr 2020 | Lubbock TX – Santa Fe NM) author, sculptor, Sacagawea dollar obverse designer, created Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington DC

Linda West Eckhardt (29 sep 1939 – Hereford TX) editor, founder, publisher, culinary writer, cookbook author

Genevieve Vaughan (21 nov 1939 – Corpus Christi TX) author, feminist,  expatriate, semiotician, peace activist, philanthropist


1940s

Helen Jeanette Erwin Donath (10 jul 1940 – Corpus Christi TX ) operatic soprano

Thelma Mothershed-Wair (29 nov 1940 – Bloomberg TX) African-American, civil rights activist, original Little Rock Nine member, home economics teacher, women’s / homeless survival skills mentor

Rosaura Sánchez (06 dec 1941 – San Angelo TX) critic, writer, editor, linguist, storyteller, focus on Chicano bilingualism

Kitty Gail Vetter Ferguson (16 dec 1941 – San Antonio TX) lecturer, biographer, science writer, former musician

Pat Mora (19 jan 1942 – El Paso TX) Latina-American poet, non-fiction author, public radio show host, children’s book writer

Gloria Feldt (13 apr 1942 – Temple TX) feminist author, speaker, commentator, women’s rights activist

Beryl Brintall Simpson (28 apr 1942 – Austin TX) author, professor emeritus in Department of Integrative Biology at University of Texas at Austin, past associate curator in Department of Botany at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Jan Showers (02 may 1942 – Hillsboro TX) author, interior designer, antiques dealer

Dorothy Garlock (22 jun 1942 – 06 apr 2018 | Grand Saline TX – Clear Lake IA) historical romance novelist, aka Johanna Phillips, Dorothy Phillips, Dorothy Glenn

Nelle Irvin Painter (02 aug 1942 – Houston TX) artist, author, historian, former professor

Byron Katie (06 dec 1942 – Breckenridge TX) author, speaker, self-inquiry advocate, born Kathleen Mitchell

Jean Catherine Coulter (26 dec 1942 – Cameron County TX) romantic suspense / historical romance novelist

Marcelite J. Harris (16 jan 1943 – 07 sep 2018 | Houston TX – Miami FL) civil rights activist, first African-American female US Air Force General, NAACP Atlanta (GA) Branch treasurer

Norvell Kay Granger (18 jan 1943 – Greenville TX) author, politician

Sabra Moore (25 jan 1943 – Texarkana TX) artist, author, activist, focus on reinterpreting social / family / natural history through artist’s books / large-scale collaborative installations / sewn and constructed sculptures and paintings

Betsey Ross Wright (04 jul 1943 – Alpine TX) lobbyist, feminist, political consultant, prisoners’ rights advocate, capital punishment opponent

Kathryn [Kay] Bailey Hutchison (22 jul 1943 – Galveston TX) author, biographer, diplomat, politician, attorney, television correspondent, former Texas Senator, US Permanent Representative to NATO

Ann Wynia (29 sep 1943 – Fort Worth TX) former college lecturer, former state politician, former university regent, academic administrator, founded Block Nurse Program [now merged with Elderberry Institute] for in-home care of seniors

Vilma Socorro Martinez (17 oct 1943 – San Antonio TX) lawyer, civil rights activist, first female US Ambassador to Argentina

Susan D. Shaw (24 oct 1943 – Dallas TX) author, ocean conservationist, environmental health scientist

Diane Stanley (27 dec 1943 – Abilene TX) children’s author, illustrator, graphic artist

Jeri Lynn Mooney (28 jan 1944 – Marshall TX) aka Susan Howard, author, actress, political activist, screenwriter, member of Writers Guild of America

Meredith MacRae (30 may 1944 – 14 jul 2000 | Houston TX – Manhattan Beach CA) actress, producer, social activist, tv host / personality

Francis Ray (20 jul 1944 – 03 jul 2013 | Richland TX – Dallas TX) serial romance novelist

Linda Ellerbee (15 aug 1944 – Bryan TX) author, journalist, news anchor / reporter

Sally Angela Shelton-Colby (29 aug 1944 – San Antonio TX) diplomat, US Ambassador, former Fulbright Scholar

Elizabeth Garcie [Betty] Flores (28 dec 1944 – Laredo TX) businesswoman, first female Mayor of Laredo, driving force behind World Trade Bridge

Sarah Ragle Weddington (05 feb 1945 – Abilene TX) author, attorney, law professor, pro-choice advocate, former Texas representative, known for representing Jane Doe in Roe v. Wade

Elizabeth Moon (07 mar 1945 – McAllen TX) essayist, newspaper columnist, sci-fi / fantasy writer

Kathleen Neal Cleaver (13 may 1945 – Memphis TX) author, law professor, former Black Panther Party member

Linda Pearl Siegert Warren (02 jul 1945 – Brazos County TX) romance novelist

Linda Sue Cobb Bruckheimer (09 jul 1945 – Victoria County TX) editor, novelist, philanthropist

Joan Bray (16 sep 1945 – Lubbock TX) teacher, journalist, union leader, US Senator

Jo Ellen Bogart (20 oct 1945 – Houston TX) lyricist, US-Canadian, children’s book author

Jaclyn Smith (26 oct 1945 – Houston TX) actress, fashion designer, businesswoman, née Jacquelyn Ellen Smith

Angela Strehl (22 nov 1945 – Lubbock TX) impresario, Texas blues historian, blues singer-songwriter

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (11 jul 1946 – Dallas TX) author, anthropologist, primatologist, filmmaker, affordable child care advocate

Laura Lane Welch Bush (04 nov 1946 – Midland TX) teacher, librarian, women’s health and wellness activist, former First Lady of Texas, former US First Lady

Margo Sappington (30 jul 1947 – Baytown TX) ballet dancer, choreographer

Marilyn Jean Buck (13 dec 1947 – 03 aug 2010 | Midland TX – Brooklyn NY) poet, author, convict, feminist, Marxist revolutionary

Isabella Russell-Ides (24 jan 1948 – Texas US) poet, playwright, memoirist

Sandra Lynn Brown (12 mar 1948 – Waco TX) thriller / romantic novelist, pen-names: Sandra Brown, Laura Jordan, Rachel Ryan, Erin St. Claire

Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad (19 jun 1948 – Houston TX) singer, actress, stage director

Charlotte Elkins (04 jul 1948 – Houston TX) aka Emily Spencer, mystery novelist co-author

Margaret JoBeth Williams (06 dec 1948 – Houston TX) director, tv / film / stage actress

Diane [Dee] Mosbacher (13 jan 1949 – Houston TX) psychiatrist, professor, lesbian feminist activist, founded non-profit Woman Vision, documentary film director and producer, founded Mosbacher Fund for Media Studies and the Mosbacher / Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism

Jackie Diamond Hyman Wilson (03 apr 1949 – Menard TX) former reporter / columnist, romance / fantasy / horror / mystery novelist, aka Jacqueline Diamond, Jacqueline Topaz, Jacqueline Jade, Jackie Hyman, Jackie Diamond Hyman

Phyllis George (25 jun 1949 – Denton TX) author, sportscaster, art collector, arts and crafts museum founder

Shelly Alexis Duvall (07 jul 1949 – Houston TX) former actress, writer, singer, comedian, producer

Sharon Hall Robinson (02 dec 1949 – Houston TX) classical concert cellist

Marie Harriet Brenner (15 dec 1949 – San Antonio TX) author, memoirist, investigative journalist, magazine writer-at-large

Wanda Garner Cash (21 dec 1949 – Laredo TX) author, speaker, journalist, commentator, expert witness, media advisor, open government activist / advocate


1950s

Deborah Kaye [Debbie] Allen (16 jan 1950 – Houston TX) actress, dancer, tv producer, tv / film director, choreographer, member US President’s Committee on the Arts

Swanee Hunt (01 may 1950 – Dallas TX) professor, non-fiction author, former US Ambassador, founding director of Women & Public Policy Program at Kennedy School

Kathy Vargas (23 jun 1950 – San Antonio TX) collage artist, photographer, art lecturer

Signe Wilkinson (25 jul 1950 – Wichita Falls TX) author, editorial cartoonist, first female to win Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning

Louella [Katy] Moffatt (19 nov 1950 – Fort Worth TX) vocalist, musician, lyricist, composer, acoustic guitarist

Teresa Gutierrez (06 jan 1951 – Bexar TX) author, lesbian, immigrant rights activist, International Action Center coordinator

Gail Caldwell (20 jan 1951 – Amarillo TX) book critic, columnist, memoirist, Pulitzer Prize winner for Criticism

Melba [J. T.] Jean Trinidad Vasquez (27 feb 1951 – San Marcos TX) author, psychologist, former and first Latina president of American Psychological Association (APA), ethics in psychotherapy and counseling specialist

Deborah Byrd (01 mar 1951 – San Antonio TX) science journalist, astronomy radio series co-host / producer

Linda Finch (13 mar 1951 – San Antonio TX) author, aviator, builder, businesswomen, spokesperson, elders and children’s advocate, replicated flight of Amelia Earhart / recorded as one of first large educational internet program

Santa Barraza (07 apr 1951 – Kingsville TX) author, Chicana artist, retablo-style painter

Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans(15 apr 1951 – Waco TX) columnist, aka Heloise, lifestyle author / speaker

Lynn R. Goldman (24 apr 1951 – Galveston TX) author, pediatrician, epidemiologist, public health physician, former professor of environmental health

Lynda Suzanne Robinson (06 jul 1951 – Amarillo TX) historical / romance / mystery novelist, anthologist, PhD in anthropology, pen-names Linda A. Robinson and Suzanne Robinson

Judith Lee Ivey (04 sep 1951 – El Paso TX) actress, theater director

Alex Finlayson (04 dec 1951 – Tyler TX) playwright

Karen T. Taylor (06 mar 1952 – Fort Worth TX) author, art educator, forensic artist, fine art portrait sculptor, facial identification specialist

Mary Anita Thigpen Perry (05 may 1952 – Haskell TX) nurse, health care advocate, political family member, namesake for two nursing endowments, longest-serving First Lady of Texas (2000-2015)

Jody Deming (02 jun 1952 – Houston TX) essayist, researcher, professor of oceanography, co-founded University of Washington Astrobiology Extremophile Laboratory

Deborah Darden Crombie (06 jun 1952 – Dallas TX) mystery / romance novelist

Marianne Williamson (08 jul 1952 – Houston TX) author, speaker, inspirational motivator, founded Project Angel Food, co-founded The Peace Alliance

Janet Eager Krueger (27 aug 1952 – San Antonio TX) artist, educator, rancher, specialist in large-scale oil paintings of Texas ranching life

Lisa Gracia Tuttle (16 sep 1952 – Houston TX) editor, non-fiction author, sci-fi / horror novelist, short story writer, pen names: Maria Palmer, Ben M. Baglio, Lucy Daniels, Laura Waring

Eileen Wilks (03 nov 1952 – Monahans TX) romance / urban fantasy / paranormal romance serial novelist

Sarah Glasscock (04 nov 1952 – El Paso TX) short fiction / education writer

Gloria DeLeon (16 dec 1952 – McAllen TX) author, professor, consultant, Latino activist, founder / president National Hispanic Institute

Cynthia Mulrow (23 may 1953 – Edinburg TX) editor, scholar, essayist, physician, professor, research focuses on systematic reviews / research methodology / chronic medical conditions

Angela Salinas (06 dec 1953 – Alice TX) retired US Marine general, first woman to command a Marine Corps Recruit Depot, first US Hispanic woman Marine general

Cheryl L. Shavers (26 dec 1953 – San Marcos TX) author, chemist, expert in semi-conductors, radio host / talk show producer, founder / CEO Global Smarts strategy consultancy company, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology

Celestine Beyincé-Lawson [Tina Knowles] (04 jan 1954 – Galveston TX) fashion designer, businesswoman, founded House of Deréon

Minerva Garza Carcaño (20 jan 1954 – Edinburg TX) author, interfaith activist, immigration reform advocate, LGBT rights activist, first female Hispanic United Methodist minister

Suzanne Deal Booth (17 feb 1954 – Dallas TX) vintner, art advocate, art collector, arts advisor, philanthropist, created Suzanne Deal Booth art prize, founder / director Friends of Heritage Preservation [FOHP]

Sue Ellen Brown (08 mar 1954 – Tyler TX) artist, illustrator, portrait painter, lyrical nonobjective abstractionist, collectible card game illustrator

Cheryl Lynn [Cherry] Boone (07 jul 1954 – Denton TX) singer, writer, author, aka Cherry O’Neill, anorexia awareness advocate

Carleton [Carly] Fiorina (06 sep 1954 – Austin TX) memoirist, groundbreaking CEO / businesswoman, née Cara Carleton Sneed

Suzy Spencer (23 sep 1954 – Lufkin TX) author, journalist, true crime writer

Gail Vittori (07 oct 1954 – Austin TX) author, sustainable designer / planner

Norma V. Cantu (02 nov 1954 – Brownsville TX) law professor, civil rights lawyer, former English teacher, Mexican-American rights activist

Catherine Jean Crier (06 nov 1954 – Dallas TX) lawyer, television journalist, non-fiction author, former elected state judge

Dee-Deborah [Rachel] Martin (14 dec 1954 – Austin TX) writer, painter, musician, printmaker, draftswoman, performance artist

Nancy A. Moran (21 dec 1954 – Dallas TX) author, professor, evolutionary biologist, co-founder of Yale Microbial Diversity Institute

Lily Eskelsen Garcia (01 may 1955 – Fort Hood TX) teacher, lyricist, columnist, trade union leader

Rachel Livia Elizondo McLish (21 jun 1955 – Harlingen TX) author, actress, female bodybuilding champion, compassionate conservative Christian

Gail Giles (24 sep 1955 – Galveston TX) young-adult novelist

Betsy Dehaas Holden (19 oct 1955 – Lubbock TX) businesswoman, corporate director

Joni Patry (08 nov 1955 – Dallas TX) author, teacher, Vedic astrologer, founder / director of Galactic Center

Barbara Kay Bracher Olson (27 dec 1955 – 11 sep 2001 | Houston TX – Arlington VA) author, attorney, tv commentator, former US Federal Prosecutor, 9/11 victim at US Pentagon

Denise DuBarry (06 mar 1956 – 23 mar 2019 | Killeen TX – Los Angeles CA) yogini, film producer, social activist, philanthropist, infomercial pioneer

Donna Wick (14 apr 1956 – Texas City TX) author, speaker, publisher, talk radio host, media expert

Lisa Niemi Swayze (26 may 1956 – Houston TX) writer, dancer, actress, director

Jean Allison Stuntz (08 apr 1957 – Orange TX) author, historian, women’s studies professor

Eloise Broady DeJoria (13 may 1957 – Houston TX) actress, producer, philanthropist, business owner

Cecile Richards (15 jul 1957 – Waco TX) essayist, memoirist, pro-choice activist, past president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Ford Foundation board member

Lori Singer (06 nov 1957 – Corpus Christi TX) cellist, actress, documentary film producer

Carolyn Ann [Callie] Khouri (27 nov 1957 – San Antonio TX) Syrian-American feminist lecturer, tv / film director, producer, screenwriter

Deborah Scaling Kiley (21 jan 1958 – 13 aug 2012 | Throckmorton TX – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico) author, sailor, author, speaker, businesswoman, first US woman to complete Whitbread Round the World Race

Brenda Cherry (19 mar 1958 – Blossom TX) civil / human rights activist, president / co-founder of nonprofit Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality [CCFRE]

Kim Edwards (04 may 1958 – Killeen TX) novelist, educator

Celia Williams Dugger (03 jul 1958 –Austin TX ) journalist, science editor

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (04 aug 1958 – Amarillo TX) poet, artist, author, editor, educator, organizer, performer, filmmaker

Julie Bell (10 oct 1958 – Beaumont TX) painter, author, fantasy / wildlife artist

Melanie Ann Huckaby Fain (14 oct 1958 – Texas US) wildlife etcher, watercolorist, printmaker

Annette Gordon-Reed (19 nov 1958 – Livingston TX) author, historian, law professor

Robin Lynn Macy White (27 nov 1958 – Dallas TX) musician, teacher, gardener, songwriter, record producer

Katherine Connella (12 dec 1958 – Dallas TX) actress, screenwriter, autobiographical author

Marsha Lane Hatley Farney (15 dec 1958 – Dallas TX) civic activist, state politician, former realtor, teacher, professor, school counselor

Twila Paris (28 dec 1958 – Fort Worth TX) author, pianist, Christian, singer-songwriter

Dinah Dinwiddie (18 mar 1959 – Texas US) romance novelist, aka Julia London

Kathleen M. Boozang (21 apr 1959 – Galveston TX) author,  attorney, essayist, professor / dean of law at Seton Hall

Anne Smith (01 jul 1959 – Dallas TX) author, former tennis champion, educational psychologist

Dorothy [Doro] Walker Bush Koch (18 aug 1959 – Harris County TX) memoirist, philanthropist, former US Presidential family member

Sandra Bookman (08 oct 1959 – Beaumont TX) television news anchor / reporter

Victoria Clark (10 oct 1959 – Dallas TX) actress, director, musical theatre singer