A marble bust of the former Texas governor Miriam Ferguson is located on the first floor of the rotunda in Texas state capitol. It was designed by Enrico Cerracchio. Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson (1875–1961) was the first female governor of Texas (served two terms – from 1925 to 1927 and 1933 to 1935), the first US female governor to be elected in a general election, and the second female US governor after Nellie Tayloe Ross, who is the first and only female governor of Wyoming. Miriam was born and raised in Texas. After finishing college, she married James Edward Ferguson, and they had two girls. James Edward Ferguson served as the governor of Texas from 1915 to 1917, on the second term he was impeached due to corruption and was not allowed to hold office in Texas. The couple decided that Ma will officially run as governor, but in practice, he will be the governor. Their slogan was “Two Governors for the Price of One.” In 1924 she won the election and became the first female governor of Texas. She lost when running again in 1928 and 1930. In 1932 she succeeded and served her second term. During her serving time, she had few successes but was also criticized for accepting bribes for pardons and paroles.   Read more...

A monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds in Austin, dedicated to the pioneer woman of early Texas. The bronze statue of a woman holding a baby in one hand while she is looking forward. It stands on a red granite pedestal, and the plaque reads: “TEXAS PIONEER WOMAN HONORING THE PIONEER WOMEN OF EARLY TEXAS PRESENTED TO THE STATE OF TEXAS BY THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS DISTRICT VIII 1998” It was sculpted by Linda Sioux Henley and dedicated in 1998. This is the only statue on the Texas State Capitol grounds dedicated to women. Read more...

A bronze statue of the Austin heroine Angelina Eberly is capturing the historical moment of Eberly bringing Austin the win in the Texas Archive War. Eberly was born in 1798 in Tennessee. Since her first marriage, she operated several inns and taverns with her first husband and later with her second one, in several places in the US till her death in 1860. In 1842 Texas’s president wanted to set Huston as the capital of Texas. When his campaign failed, he sent a military detachment to Austin to relocate the government archives. When Eberly noticed the men loading their wagons, she fired Austin’s six-pound cannon into the General Land Office Building to alert about the archive theft. The noise woke up the people of Austin who chased the Huston’s troops and saved the archives, preserving Austin as the capital of Texas. The statue is located at the exact place Eberly fired the canon. It was sculptured by Pat Oliphant and dedicated on September 26th, 2004. On the ground of the statue is a plaque describing the historic event. The last sentence on the plaque states – “This statue honors a bold woman whose vigilance and short temper preserved Austin as the capital of Texas.” Read more...

The Barbara Jordan Statue is a monument honoring the life and achievements of Barbara Jordan – a civil rights movement activist, educator, lawyer, politician, and the first African-American Congresswoman from the south. The statue, crafted by Bruce Wolfe, is made of bronze and surrounded by plaques telling Jordan’s story and the many ‘firsts’ she accomplished. This is the first statue to commemorate a female public figure at the University of Texas. It was erected due to a campaign led by the ‘Orange Jackets’ organization at the university and was unveiled on April 24th, 2009. The members of the women’s organization noticed the lack of female representation at the campus. They felt that Jordan should be the first one to be honored for being a symbol of responsibility toward society. Another statue of Barbara Jordan is located in Austin–Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Read more...

A historic landmark and a museum preserving the life and artwork of Elisabet Ney, a German sculptress who moved to the USA in the 19th century. The museum is located in Ney’s studio, or ‘Formosa’ as she called it, which was a gathering place to artists and philosophers. The museum houses more than 50 of Ney’s sculptures, including works that were made before she came to the USA, such as portraits of Otto von Bismarck, Arthur Schopenhauer, and King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Also presented there her American period portraits of public figures such as Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and a statue of Lady Macbeth. While visiting the museum one can view her original working tools, furniture, and other personal memorabilia. There are also special exhibits and events, including Saturday Morning Drawing Salon, Polka festivals, and “Speed Philosophy.” Read more...