Editors, writers and publishers interested in “Texas Dames” visit my exhibit at a Texas Press Association Convention.
Travel through history with Texas Dames™
”I have enjoyed your articles on Texas Women in the Dublin Citizen” |
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— Anita Baker, Dublin, Tx |
“We have greatly enjoyed your columns on Texas Dames of our early history, as published locally in the Wise County Messenger.” |
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— W. B. Woodruff, Jr. of Decatur, Tx |
“What’s Texas Dames™ about?”
That’s a question I’m often asked. It’s about women who came to Texas, who were born in Texas, who stirred up Texas. They’re the stories I found while crisscrossing the state for some, listening to my mother’s stories of families and pioneers, prowling through libraries, archives, and courthouses. They’re the stories of women who-- because they’ve lived in a community--have changed the community. Often these women were “firsts,” as doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc. Other times they picked up the reins of ranches and communities and shoved them into gentler ways. Often their stories have gone untold or under told outside their communities and for more recent generations.
I hope you’ll enjoy their stories as I have.
The columns have run in numerous communities around the state and I’ve now gathered the stories into a book, Texas Dames, Sassy & Savvy. I submitted the manuscript and now wait to see where the “dames” will find a home.
And then... The Professions and “Texas Dames™”
Medicine—Four--from anesthesia, optometry, physical rehabilitation and railroad doctoring.
Science--Two —botany and marine biology, both students of flora and fauna from Austin to Fort Davis.
Business—in Dallas’ beginnings, a woman in construction; another ran a circus (after serving as a spy in the Civil War); another ruled timber and banking interests in Huntsville; another from Dallas invented and successfully marketed “white out;” the former black slave who cornered downtown Dallas real estate; four who ran successful hotels from the coast to Dallas.
Agriculture--Texas being an agricultural state and still large in agri-business, quite a few “Texas Dames” stories recount their experiences over the miles of Texas borders and across the eras:
• Fifteen ’Dames’ from the coast throughout West Texas, raised cattle, sheep, horses (even the first polo ponies sold to New Yorkers) while pioneering in oil and banking.
Law—a half dozen Texas Dames parlayed their law degrees to serve as Supreme Court judges, “the all women Supreme Court in 1925,” while modern women have followed to the bench in state and county courts in the 1970’s.
Aviation—Four “Texas Dames”
• Two women pilots and instructor pilots holding the earliest pilot’s licenses in the 1920’s
• Two women stayed on the ground and wheeled and dealed to recruit, train and sustain women pilots for service in World War II
Sample columns
If you have never read a Texas Dames™ column, click on the stories below and find out what thousands of Dames readers are enjoying.
If you are a publisher or editor and would like to try Texas Dames™, you have permission to download these columns and use them in your publication.
The story of Dora Roberts
The story of Dr. Claudia Potter
The story of Roberta Dodd
The story of Dona DeLeon
Got any good ideas for Texas Dames™ stories?
I’m always on the search for nifty women’s stories.
Drop me a note or call with the names of women and their stories in your town and area.
Contact:
Carmen Goldthwaite
P. O. Box 470841
Fort Worth, Tx 76147
H 817-737-6958
M 817-726-0412
Twitter: @writingtxdame
E-mail: carmengoldthwaite@sbcglobal.net