This past week I have juggled my time between writing, art and research. In the studio I have made progress on the art exhibition. Also, I have finally decided on the title: Irrepressible, a hidden history of Invincible Texas Women.
There will be 14 large pieces in the exhibition and a book including the portraits, some photos and an essay about each person or event in the artwork. I finally got the draft of the project prospectus written. In addition to spotlighting the contributions of these incredible women, hopefully, the exhibition will help raise money for some non-profit organizations which support women and girls and help us continue opening doors.
I have completed and framed the portrait of State Representative Senfronia Thompson. She has served in the Texas House for 28 years (2nd in seniority) and has cracked through the ceiling in the legislature for persons of color and women. The portrait of Governor Ann Richards is ready to frame. I have almost finished the sketch of State Representative Donna Howard. I have begun preliminary sketches of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Most of the portraits are in black and white. A few pieces are in color. Currently I am working on a montage/collage highlighting suffragette Minnie Fisher Cunningham. The watercolor/pen and ink portrait of Minnie Cunningham is complete. The work also includes a sketch of 32 Texas women who were photographed together in Austin the day they first cast their vote in the Texas Democratic Primary in 1918. A copy of the Congratulatory Telegram from President Woodrow Wilson to Minnie Cunningham is included beside the news clipping when the judge ruled that the women’s vote in the primary was unconstitutional and ordered that their votes not be counted. This was a year before passage of the Constitutional Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Indefatigable and irrepressible describes Minnie Fisher Cunningham and the women who fought for the right to vote and to serve in elected office in Texas. Minnie served as the first secretary/treasurer of the national League of Women Voters. She was the first Texas woman to run for the U.S. Senate. Identifying incumbents in office who were hostile to women’s suffrage, Minnie and her associated vetted candidates and backed those who were favorable to women’s vote. Minnie promoted Bill Hobby over Gov. Ferguson and the women were largely responsible for electing Hobby Governor.
Minnie traveled, educated and recruited throughout Texas and the nation. Her influence reached from the earliest days of women’s suffrage in Texas to the 1960s. She helped finance the opening of the JFK/LBJ for President Headquarters in Texas by organizing a garage sale.
When women march in Texas for Women’s Rights, we are assuming the torch lit by women, many of them unnamed and forgotten, who wrote the book on persistence. They refused to accept defeat. When their triumphs were overturned by the courts, they used the setback to propel them forward, to change the incumbents, to rewrite the narrative, to persevere.
