Cora Gray Strong (4 September 1882 – 21 March 1959) was an American politician. Cora Gray was born in

Elkhart, Texas Elkhart is a town the U.S. state of Texas, in Anderson County. Named for a friendly Native American who assisted the early settlers of the area, Elkhart's population was 1,287 at the 2020 U.S. census. History The history of Elkhart starts with ...

, on 4 September 1882. Gray attended the Summer Hill Select School for Young Women, and became a teacher. She taught in Anderson County for one year, at Day, then moved to Bethel for another year-long teaching position. Gray then relocated to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, to enroll at the Metropolitan Business College. After graduating, Gray was employed by the Dallas-based Briggs Machinery Supply Company. She married

Nelson R. Strong Nelson "Nat" R. Strong (11 February 1862 – 26 February 1930) was an American politician. Strong was born on February 11, 1862 in Illnois and later arrived in Port Arthur, Texas in 1896 where he served as a founding developer, became its first ...

in 1905, and moved with him to

Slocum, Texas Slocum is an unincorporated community in southeast Anderson County, Texas, in the United States. According to the '' Handbook of Texas'', the community had a population of 198 in 2018. It is located within the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area. ...

. In Slocum, Gray acquired and operated a store formerly owned by her father, and additionally served the city as an assistant postmaster for two decades. Her husband was elected to serve District 55 of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

in 1928, and died in office on 26 February 1930. Gray succeeded him on 13 January 1931. During the first session of her tenure as a state representative, Gray helped pass a law regarding administration and oversight of rural schools, and jointly proposed a successful amendment to the

Constitution of Texas The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of Texas. The current document was adopted on Feb ...

. With its passage, Gray became the first woman state representative in Texas to propose a successful state constitutional amendment related to tax collection. In the second legislative session of her term, Gray advocated for a bill regarding freshwater fishing and fish selling. Gray did not run for a full term in her own right, and left office on 10 January 1933, choosing to return to her farming operation in Slocum. Gray was later named an alternate delegate to the

1944 Democratic National Convention The 1944 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 19 to July 21, 1944. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented fourth term. Senator Ha ...

. She died on 21 March 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Cora Gray 20th-century American legislators 19th-century American educators 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American women politicians 1882 births Businesspeople from Texas People from Anderson County, Texas 19th-century American women educators 20th-century American businesswomen 1959 deaths Texas postmasters Farmers from Texas Spouses of Texas politicians Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Schoolteachers from Texas