Edith Wilmans facts for kids

Edith Eunice Therrel Wilmans (born December 21, 1882 – died March 21, 1966) was an important lawyer and politician from Texas. She made history in 1922 by becoming the very first woman elected to the Texas State Legislature.

Life and Career

Edith Eunice Therrel was born in 1882 in Lake Providence, Louisiana. When she was three years old, her family moved to Dallas, Texas. She grew up there and went to public schools. On Christmas Day in 1900, she married Jacob Hall Wilmans. They had three daughters together.

Edith Wilmans was very active in her community in Dallas. In 1914, she helped start the Dallas Equal Suffrage Association. This group worked to get women the right to vote. She also helped create other groups like the Dallas Housewives League. She was also president of the Democratic Women's Association of Texas.

Wilmans was known for her work with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She was also part of the League of Business and Professional Women. She was involved in her daughters' Parent-Teacher Association and her church. Edith was interested in law and wanted to help improve women's rights. She studied law and became a lawyer in 1918.

Becoming a Legislator

In 1922, Wilmans was elected to the Thirty-eighth Texas Legislature. She represented District 50 in Dallas County. Eight women ran for the legislature that year, but Edith was the only one who won. She gained attention by defeating a male politician who had been in office for a long time.

She took her seat in 1923, the same year her husband passed away. While working in Austin, she supported laws to help children. She pushed to create a special court in Dallas County for family matters. She also wanted a law that would make all Texas children under 14 go to school. Only one of her five bills became a law.

Wilmans served on several committees. These included committees for Education and Public Health. She was also the first woman to lead a session as Speaker of the House. This was an honorary role.

Later Political Efforts

Edith Wilmans served one term in the legislature. The person she had defeated won the next election. She ran for Governor of Texas twice, in 1926 and 1928. She supported campaign and prison reform. She also said she would remain independent if elected governor.

In 1925, Governor Pat M. Neff appointed Wilmans to the All-Woman Supreme Court. This was a special court made up only of women. She served alongside Nellie Gray Robertson and Hortense Sparks Ward. However, she had to resign because she didn't have enough years of experience practicing law in Texas.

Wilmans was considered for Vice-President of the United States in the 1928 United States presidential election. However, she decided not to run. In 1929, she married Henry A. Born. After her marriage ended, she returned to Dallas and continued her law practice.

In 1935, Wilmans ran for the legislature again but was defeated. She later bought a farm in Vineyard, in Jack County. She ran for the United States Congress twice, in 1948 and 1951, but lost both times. She continued to practice law until she retired in 1958. That year, she broke her hip and moved back to Dallas to live with her oldest daughter. She passed away in Dallas eight years later. Her important papers are kept at the Texas State Archive.

See also

• Margie Neal, first woman elected to the Texas State Senate