Carmen Goldthwaite - Texas Dames Column

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Margaret (Peggy) McCormick arrived in Texas as part of the “Old 300,” Stephen F. Austin’s first colony. Soon widowed, yet unbowed, she met adversaries with a crustiness and determination that caused Austin to write: “I wish these colonists would get along.” Her land became the park at the San Jacinto Memorial in Houston, Texas. My story of her, in some detail, appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of Persimmon Hill, the magazine of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum. The tale of her fame and infamy is, of course, included in my book, Texas Dames, Sassy & Savvy, unpublished as yet, a collection of the Texas Dames column.

First Woman Optometrist:
Mollie Wright Armstrong found a solution to her migraines in 1898. She packed up her son and studied, then returned to Brownwood to open her optometry practice in 1899, a profession she continued ‘til 1962.

First Woman Mayor:
The men of Marble Falls elected Ophelia Birdie Harwell to take the reins of this town in 1917. She pointed the small town on the river toward the tourism it enjoys today.

With a long held desire to come to Texas, Mollie Bailey joined Hood’s Minstrel’s during the Civil War, entertaining the Texas brigade with song and dance. When Arkansas soldiers ran out of quinine, she tucked packages of the medicine into her pompadour and delivered the medicine safely, infiltrating enemy lines. Sometimes there would be more than medicine that she moved across the line. Years later she took the “Bailey Circus” over the road in Texas, “A Texas Show for Texas People,” to small towns and rural areas. Dallas served as the winter home.

Roberta Dodd studied in Texas, Washington and Chicago before claiming her place on the stages of opera halls of Europe throughout World War II when her race denied her that opportunity in Texas.

First Woman anesthesiologist:
Dr. Claudia Potter joined Scott and White in Temple despite a partner who objected to a woman.

BLOGGING…

Over the years some of the 200 stories I’ve written have been published in newspapers around the states, under the heading of: “Texas Dames.”

Goliad
A visit to Goliad and I found the name of my Texas Revolutionary War ancestor--Randolph DeSpain, uncle of TCU founders--on the monument memorializing those who died at La Bahia (Goliad) for Independence.

TEXAS HISTORY BLOG… www.texashistoryblog.com
That was an early post, “`Remember Goliad’ Fired Revolutionary Support across U.S.,” written last summer to launch: www.texashistoryblog.com... “Texana on Thursdays…a front porch chat.” The posts or stories unfurl from piles of material and notes gathered while researching for my two books on Texas women.
Some of the posts may be about women but largely they’re about any figure – person, battle, ship, expedition, way of life, river or stream—that I’ve discovered while researching women.

From a reader and a reviewer: On Facebook: “Highly recommend this Texas history blog by Carmen Goldthwaite. Try it out. I wrote about Carmen and her books.”
- Gail Bennision, http://www.fwtx.com/articles/texas-ranch-women

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WRITING BLOG… www.scribblers.tips
Because I also teach writing, I’ve tons of writing knowledge and experience gathered over the last 15 years of teaching and decades of writing for publication that I try to impart in: www.scribblers.tips …Weekly on Wednesday…and Sometimes More.
Posts offer refreshers to the experienced, how- to’s for the novice.
As said in a recent post, “Temptation Roams…Defaulting on Deadlines”: about making or missing deadlines:

You hit the nail right on the head with this one on deadlines!
I ask myself “how did she know”. You are doing great, keep’em coming.
- Clay

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`Why don’t you write a Book?’
About Texas Ranch Women?

That question, from an editor, launched a 15-year journey into the historic annals, interviews from horseback and from single-engine planes to find the stories that now appear in TEXAS RANCH WOMEN: THREE CENTURIES OF METTLE AND MOXIE, The History Press, Sept. 30 2014.

ALONG THE WAY…I discovered fascinating tales of TEXAS DAMES that didn’t fit the ranch book. These women—along with some ranchers and plantation owners—could not be ignored. I had to find a way to get their stories out. That became the newspaper column “Texas Dames” that ran weekly for over two years in a couple dozen newspapers in Texas communities.

Then, a sampling of some 53 of those 200 stories were published in 2012 by The History Press: TEXAS DAMES: SASSY AND SAVVY WOMEN THROUGHOUT LONE STAR HISTORY.

Now, I’m doing what I’ve encouraged writing students to do…
post blogs on a weekly basis.

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