SR293 - Recognizing Minnie Fisher Cunningham on the occasion of its 143rd anniversary of her birth.

          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 293            WHEREAS, March 19, 2025, marks the 143rd anniversary of the   birth of trailblazing activist Minnie Fisher Cunningham, who   played a vital role in securing women's suffrage; and            WHEREAS, The daughter of Horatio and Sallie Fisher, the   former Minnie Fisher was born on the family farm near New Waverly   in 1882; she was one of the first women in the state to receive a   pharmacy degree but soon discovered that her untrained male   colleagues made twice her salary; following her marriage to   Beverly "Bill" Cunningham, she became active in social reform   efforts in Galveston; she chaired two Women's Health Protective   Association committees and was a founding member and then   president of the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association; and            WHEREAS, Mrs. Cunningham was elected president of the   Texas Equal Suffrage Association in 1915; membership grew to   10,000 under her leadership, and her formidable   coalition-building and negotiating skills resulted in a bill   granting Texas women the right to vote in state primary   elections; the National American Woman Suffrage Association   recruited her to lobby Congress and President Woodrow Wilson, and   she eventually became the group's congressional secretary; after   passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, she traveled across the   Southwest to rally support for ratification; her shrewdness and   determination were instrumental in making Texas the first   southern state to ratify the amendment, thwarting an attempt to   create a regional bulwark against it; and            WHEREAS, A founder and officer of the National League of   Women Voters, Mrs. Cunningham successfully championed the   nation's first social welfare measure, the Sheppard-Towner   Maternity and Infancy Act; back in Texas, she became one of the   first American women to pursue a career in party politics,   running for the U.S. Senate in 1928 and the governorship in 1944;   she was an early inspiration to Eleanor Roosevelt and in turn   energetically supported the Roosevelt administration's New Deal   initiatives in numerous professional and volunteer capacities,   including editor for the Texas A&M University Agricultural   Extension Service, senior specialist in the Information Division   of the federal Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and   acting head of the Women's Division of the Democratic National   Committee; and            WHEREAS, Mrs. Cunningham returned to New Waverly to run   the family farm but remained highly engaged in the progressive   movement; in 1954, she helped establish the Texas Observer , and   six years later, she managed the local headquarters of the   John F. Kennedy presidential campaign, which carried Walker   County; she died on December 9, 1964, at the age of 82; and            WHEREAS, Through her vision, resolve, and extraordinary   ability, Minnie Fisher Cunningham contributed enormously to the   empowerment of American women, and 60 years after her passing,   her accomplishments continue to resonate; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th   Legislature, hereby commemorate the 143rd anniversary of the   birth of Minnie Fisher Cunningham.     Alvarado       Bettencourt Hall Middleton   Birdwell Hancock Miles   Blanco Hinojosa of Hidalgo Nichols   Campbell Hinojosa of Nueces Parker   Cook Huffman Paxton   Creighton Hughes Perry   Eckhardt Johnson Schwertner   Flores King Sparks   Gutierrez Kolkhorst West   Hagenbuch Menéndez Zaffirini           ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                    ________________________________          President of the Senate               I hereby certify that the     above Resolution was adopted by     the Senate on March 19, 2025.             ________________________________          Secretary of the Senate             ________________________________           Member, Texas Senate