Annie Webb Blanton (19 August 1870

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

– 2 October 1945

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

) was an American

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

from Texas, educator, and author of a series of grammar textbooks. ''Texas Writers of Today,'' by Florence Elberta Barns (1889–1957), Dallas: Tardy Publishing Co. (1935); ''A Dictionary of North American Authors Deceased Before 1950,'' compiled by W. Stewart Wallace (1884–1970), Toronto:

Ryerson Press Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970.Janet B. Friskney"The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of t ...

(1951); ''Who Was Who in America'', (Vol. 2, 1943–1950), Chicago: A.N. Marquis Co. (1963); ''Who Was Who among North American Authors, 1921-1939,'' (Vol. 1 of 2), Detroit:

Gale Research Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale G ...

(1976); ''

Biography Index ''Biography Index'' is a bibliographic index that indexes biographical information contained in books and magazines. Its content can also be found in the bibliographic database A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an ...

,''

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;
Vol. 1: Jan. 1946–Jul. 1949 (1949)
Vol. 11: Sep. 1976–Aug. 1979 (1980);
Vol. 12: Sep. 1979–Aug. 1982 (1983)
Vol. 18: Sep. 1992–Aug. 1993 (1993);
Vol. 19: Sep. 1993–Aug. 1994 (1994);
Vol. 20: Sep. 1994–Aug. 1995 (1995); Blanton was elected Superintendent of Texas Public Instruction in 1918, making her the first woman in Texas elected to statewide office.Debbie Mauldin Cottrell
"Annie Webb Blanton"
''Handbook of Texas Online'' (Texas State Historical Association 2014).

Early life and education

Blanton was one of seven children born to Thomas Lindsay Blanton and Eugenia Webb Blanton. She had a twin, Fannie, who died young. Her brother,

Thomas Lindsay Blanton Thomas Lindsay Blanton (October 25, 1872 – August 11, 1957) was a United States Representative from Texas from 1917 to 1929, then again from 1930 to 1937. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

, served as a Congressman from 1917 to 1936. Blanton attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in Austin, earning a degree in English literature in 1899. Later in life, she pursued graduate studies at UT, earning a master's degree in 1923. She earned a PhD from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1927.

Teaching career

By the time she finished her undergraduate degree, Blanton had already taught for several years in rural schools and schools in Austin, to pay her own tuition. She was elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association in 1916, the first woman to hold that position. Blanton was professor of English at the

North Texas State Normal College The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

in Denton from 1901 to 1918.''Biographical Dictionary of American Educators'' (3 vols.), John F. Ohles (ed.),

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(1978); She later served on the education faculty of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

for 22 years. She was the third woman to hold full professor status at the University of Texas.Margaret C. Berry
"Annie Webb Blanton"
''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains'' (University of Nebraska 2011). In 1929, she founded the

Delta Kappa Gamma Delta Kappa Gamma () is a professional society for women educators. History The society was founded on May 11, 1929, at the Faculty Women’s Club at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas. The idea was conceived by Annie Webb Blanton, member of ...

Society International, a professional honor society for key women educators.''Annie Webb Blanton: Founder, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society,'' by Clara M. Parker, Literary Licensing (1949); Books by Annie Webb Blanton included ''Review Outline and Exercises in English Grammar'' (1903); ''A Handbook of Information as to Education in Texas'' (1923); ''Advanced English Grammar'' (1928); and ''The Child of the Texas One-Teacher School'' (1936).

Election to the Superintendency

The 1918 July Texas

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and November

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

marked the first time Texas women could exercise their right to vote. Blanton was elected to the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction with support from the Texas State Teachers Association, and with a campaign orchestrated by suffragist

Minnie Fisher Cunningham Minnie Fisher Cunningham (March 19, 1882 – December 9, 1964) was an American suffrage politician, who was the first executive secretary of the League of Women Voters, and worked for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Co ...

. She served two terms, declining to run for a third term in 1922. (The superintendent office was the forerunner to the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

.) During her first term she successfully launched a "Better Schools Campaign," which amended the state constitution to allow local property taxes to fund public schools. Blanton ran for Congress in 1922 in

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the 7th-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was establish ...

Personal life and legacy

Blanton lived with her teaching colleague, Emma Mitchell, for several years. When Blanton moved to Austin, Mitchell left her job to follow; the pair traveled together, and hosted social gatherings in their home. Annie Webb Blanton died in 1945, age 75. There are schools named after Blanton in several Texas districts, and a dormitory at University of Texas at Austin. A biography of Blanton was published in 1993. In 2013, Blanton became the first woman to be the subject of a state historical marker in Denton County."Down the Corridor: Legacy of Annie Webb Blanton"
''The North Texan'' (June 13, 2013).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanton, Annie Webb 1870 births 1945 deaths American suffragists History of women in Texas Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas) Educators from Houston University of North Texas faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Activists from Houston American women academics 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers American textbook writers Women textbook writers