Mary Florence Cowell
Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(November 10, 1860 - July 13, 1940) Mary Florence (Tinsman) Cowell and her husband S. B. Cowell came to Texas from Missouri in 1900. Mrs. Cowell was a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization founded in 1869 at Wesleyan College in Iowa and dedicated to educational opportunities for women. Her friend Dora Hallock, P.E.O. supreme chapter organizer, visited Whitesboro in 1902. Together they organized Chapter A, the first P. E. O. chapter in Texas, in the Cowell home on this site. Mary Florence Cowell was elected president of Chapter A and was instrumental in the organization of the Texas State Chapter of the P.E.O. in Whitesboro in 1928. Elected the first Texas state president of the organization, she eventually became known as "the mother of P. E. O. in Texas."
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Mary Florence Cowell came to Texas from Missouri in 1900 and brought with her a commitment to the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic society founded in 1869 to open educational doors for women. In 1902, with organizer Dora Hallock, she gathered the state's very first P.E.O. chapter in her Whitesboro home and served as its president. She went on to help found the Texas State Chapter in 1928 and became its first president, earning the title "the mother of P.E.O. in Texas."
Why it matters
Her home marks the launch of a statewide women's network devoted to educating other women, part of the broader movement that expanded American women's access to learning and civic life.
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Related people
- · Mary Florence Cowell
- · Dora Hallock
Themes & tags
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