Texas Statesman William Pettus Hobby
Moscow, Polk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1878-1964) Businessman and politician William Pettus Hobby was born near this Moscow site, the son of Eudora Adeline (Pettus) and Edwin E. Hobby, a state senator and judge. At age 17, William joined the staff of the Houston Post and rose to managing editor at 23. He was named publisher of the Beaumont Enterprise in 1907. Texas voters elected William P. Hobby Lieutenant Governor in 1914 and 1916. He became Governor with the impeachment of James E. Ferguson in 1917. In 1918, Hobby was elected to his own full term (1919-1921). In 1924, he served on the first board of regents of Texas Technological College (Texas Tech). Hobby was also president of the Houston Post from 1924 until his death in 1964. In 1931, Hobby married Oveta Culp, parliamentarian of the Texas House and daughter of Elizabeth (Hoover) and former state representative Ike W. Culp. For the next quarter century, William and Oveta shared editorial administration of the Post, except four years during World War II when Oveta served as commander of the Women's Army Corps of the United States military forces, and from 1953 to 1955, when she served in the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower as the first Secretary of the Housing, Education and Welfare Department. William and Oveta had two children: William Pettus, Jr. and Jessica. Hobby's highlights as Governor included initiation of a free schoolbook program, compulsory school attendance law, state government budget system and state drought relief. His leadership was vital to Texas' participation in World War I and the effecting of woman's suffrage in the state and nation. (1964)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born near Moscow, Texas, in 1878, William Pettus Hobby rose from newspaperman to publisher to Lieutenant Governor, and became Governor in 1917 upon the impeachment of James Ferguson. His tenure brought free schoolbooks, compulsory attendance, a state budget system, and crucial leadership on Texas's World War I effort and the cause of woman suffrage. In 1931 he married Oveta Culp, herself a formidable public figure who would command the Women's Army Corps in World War II and later serve in President Eisenhower's cabinet.
Why it matters
The Hobbys represent a Texas power couple whose reach ran from state reform and suffrage to national wartime service, linking progressive-era Texas to the highest levels of American government.
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Related people
- ¡ William Pettus Hobby
- ¡ Oveta Culp Hobby
- ¡ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Themes & tags
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