Mollie Taylor Stevenson Jr. facts for kids
Mollie Taylor Stevenson Scott, also known as Mollie Taylor Stevenson Jr., was born in 1946. She was a model and is the daughter of Benjamin Franklin "Big Ben" Stevenson and Mollie (née Taylor) Stevenson. Mollie Jr. and her mother made history. They were the first living African-American women to be inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Mollie Jr. and her husband, Elicious Scott Jr., worked to teach people about Western culture and farming. They helped both children and adults learn.
Mollie Jr. received the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award. She is one of only two women to ever get this special honor. The other woman was Connie Douglas Reeves. Mollie Jr. also started the American Cowboy Museum. This museum is located on the Taylor-Stevenson Ranch near Houston. Her great-grandfather, Edward Ruthven Taylor, first bought the ranch in 1875. It is one of the oldest ranches in the United States owned by an African American family.
Learning and Helping Others
Mollie Jr. graduated from Jack Yates High School in Houston in 1963. She then studied business at Texas Southern University for four years. She worked as a model for fifteen years. She made sure to have time for volunteer work. She helped with "the black trail riding and rodeo associations." She also worked with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Black Landowners Association.
Mollie has been interviewed on radio and TV. She has also been featured in newspapers and magazines. These include Texas Highways, Ebony, and Essence. People saw her as "a woman in a nontraditional occupation." Mollie is also a founding member of several groups. These include the Speakers and Black Go Texan Committee and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. She also helped start the Professional Black Cowboy & Cowgirl Association. Other groups she joined are the Landowners of Texas and the Diamond L Riding & Roping Club.
Life on the Ranch
Mollie and her family manage their ranch. They have horses and cattle. They also produce hay and have oil operations on the land. Mollie often arranges tours at the ranch for children. These tours allow kids to interact with different ranch animals.
The American Cowboy Museum opened on her family's Texas ranch. This happened before schools in Texas were racially integrated. The museum's goal was to give African-American children a taste of ranch life. It also aimed to show the public the important roles played by Black people, Hispanic people, Native Americans, and women in the history of the American West.
