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The sculpture of the educator, librarian, and former First Lady, Laura Bush, stands at the entrance of the library, which also bears her name. Both the library and the statue were dedicated on July 19th, 2009. Bush was an early fundraiser for the Westbank Community Library District when she was First Lady of Texas, and she agreed to the request to name a new library in her honor. Laura Bush (b.1946) was born and raised in Texas. She was the US First Lady during 2001-2009 and the First Lady of Texas during 1995-2000 and is considered one of the most popular US First Ladies. During her service, she focused on initiating and promoting education and literacy programs, and among her achievements are the annual National Book Festival she established in 2001 and the Texas Book Festival she co-established in 1995. Bush is sitting on a boulder, holding the book she co-wrote with her daughter Jenna. Facing her is a statue of a young girl (the granddaughter of former library director Beth Fox) sitting on a boulder and listening to the story. Around them are more boulders inviting children to join them and read their own books on the boulders or even on Bush’s lap. Behind her is a stack of her favorite books: “Bridge to Terabithia,” “Secret Garden,” “Little House in the Big Woods,” “Old Yeller,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Goodbye to a River.” Other First Ladies are commemorated in statues in the US are – Eleanor Roosevelt in a statue in NYC and Washington, DC (the only First Lady statue in the National Mall). Abigail Addams in a statue in Quincy, MA, with her son, John Quincy, who was also a US president. Several museums honor the First Ladies: The National First Ladies Library is dedicated to commemorating the history of the First Ladies. Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, KY. Abigail Adams Birthplace museum in North Weymouth, MA. Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, in Hyde Park, NY. Read more...

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...