Emma Grigsby Meharg
Plainview, Hale County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Lynnville, Tenn.; moved to Texas with parents, Jasper N. and Mary A. (Calvert) Grigsby, 1883. Graduated from college, became a teacher, married Samuel W. Meharg. Came to Plainview (1902), where she and husband were educators. She helped organize clubs, First Presbyterian Church, U.S.A, civic endeavors. Had daughter and son. Won international renown, 1925, as Texas' first woman Secretary of State, by appointment of first woman Governor, Miriam A. Ferguson. Erected - 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Tennessee and brought to Texas as a child, Emma Grigsby Meharg became a teacher and, with her educator husband, a fixture of Plainview civic and church life after 1902. In 1925 she won lasting renown as the first woman to serve as Texas Secretary of State, appointed by Miriam A. Ferguson, the state's first woman governor. Her rise came just five years after American women won the vote, placing two women at the top of Texas government in a single stroke.
Why it matters
Meharg's appointment marks an early breakthrough for women in American state government, a tangible milestone of the suffrage era's promise being carried into public office.
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Related people
- · Emma Grigsby Meharg
- · Miriam A. Ferguson
- · Samuel W. Meharg
Themes & tags
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