Heritage, Volume 9, Number 3, Summer 1991 Page: 17
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Heritage Magazine and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas Historical Foundation.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Governor Ferguson performed during the early stages of her second
term was to pass the $20,000,000 relief package known as the
"bread bonds." These bonds were used to feed the hungry during
the Depression.
Miriam ran again in 1940 and was defeated by W. Lee O'Daniel.
O'Daniel was a master of the radio airwaves and immensely popular.
The Fergusons could not compete with O'Daniel.
Jim Ferguson died on September 21,1944 and left Miriam alone
in the quiet home on Windsor Road in Austin. Miriam retired to
private life after nearly three decades on the campaign trail. She
was honored on her eightieth birthday in 1955 at a reception in
Austin at the Driskill Hotel. Over three hundred people attended.
When asked by reporters that night what she thought of her life,
she replied, "It was all fun, every bit of it." Miriam lived on, tending
her flowers and enjoying her grandchildren. She died on June 25,
1961 at the age of eighty-six.
Miriam Amanda Ferguson was buried next to her husband at
the State Cemetery in Austin. The epitaph on her gravestone
reads,
Life's race well run,
Life's victory won,
Life's work well done,
Now cometh rest.
Carl R. McQueary is the executive director of the Bell County Museum in
Belton. He lives with his wife Laura Lee and son Kendall in an old farmhouse
in Salado. He designed and constructed the new exhibition entitled "Miriam A.
Ferguson, The life and legend of the first woman governor of Texas" currently
on view at the Bell County Museum.
Above: 1933 official
portrait. This gown is
in the Belf County
Museum collection.
Pght: The ferguson A ,
home in Temple built Pi 4
in 1907. It stiff
stands at the corner :.
of 7th and french
and is being
restored.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 9, Number 3, Summer 1991, periodical, Summer 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45423/m1/17/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.