Electra Waggoner Biggs (November 8, 1912 – April 23, 2001) was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

-born heiress, socialite and sculptor, widely known as owner of the

Waggoner Ranch The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fen ...

in Texas as well as her sculptures of Will Rogers, Dwight Eisenhower,

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

and Knute Rockne — and for having both a plane, the Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop, and a car, the

Buick Electra The Buick Electra is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Buick from 1959 to 1990, over six generations. Introduced as the replacement for the Roadmaster lines, the Electra served as the flagship Buick sedan line through its ...

, named after her, the latter by her brother-in-law,

Harlow H. Curtice Harlow Herbert Curtice (August 15, 1893 – November 3, 1962) was an American automotive industry executive who led General Motors (GM) from 1953 to 1958. As GM's chief, he was selected as Man of the Year for 1955 by ''Time'' magazine. Curtice ...

, former president of Buick and later president of General Motors.

Biography

Biggs was born on November 8, 1912 and was named after her aunt,

Electra Waggoner Electra Waggoner (January 6, 1882 – November 26, 1925) was an American rancher and socialite from Texas. She was an heiress to the Waggoner Ranch, one of the largest ranches in the United States. The town of Electra, Texas was named in her honor ...

, after whom the town of

Electra, Texas Electra is a city in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,791 at the 2010 census., down from 3,168 in 2000. Electra claims the title of Pump Jack Capital of ...

is named. Her father, E. Paul Waggoner, was an heir to the

in Texas. Her mother Helen was a socialite. Biggs grew up in a privileged family and attended Miss Wright's Boarding School in Pennsylvania, where she discovered a love of art — later studying sculpture in New York and at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris. Ultimately becoming well-known as a sculptor, a large collection of Biggs' works are featured at the

Red River Valley Museum The Red River Valley Museum is located at 4600 College Drive, in the city of Vernon, county of Wilbarger, in the U.S. state of Texas. Museum History The museum was established in 1965 and later moved to the grounds of Vernon College. It includ ...

Vernon, Texas Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 11,002. History The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After th ...

. Biggs married Gordon Bowman in 1933, divorcing two years later — their wedding was photographed by

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

. Her second husband, John Biggs, worked for

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

and together they had two daughters, Helen Biggs Willingham of Vernon, Texas and Electra (Ellie) Biggs Moulder of Jacksonville, Florida. As well as living at the Waggoner Ranch, Biggs maintained a home at 4700 Preston Road in Dallas, designed by locally noted architect

Anton Korn Anton F. Korn (1886-August 23, 1942) was an American architect based in Texas, known mostly for his residences. A large number of the works are in Dallas and in the Dallas enclave Highland Park, Texas. A number of his works are listed on the Nati ...

. She died on April 23, 2001.

Sculptures

Most of the sculptures Biggs created were portraits. They include:Porter, Roze McCoy, ''Electra II: Electra Waggoner Biggs, Socialite, Sculptor, Ranch Heiress'', Red River Valley Museum, Vernon, Texas, 1995 * US President

* US

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

John Nance Garner * General (later US President) Dwight Eisenhower * Sid Richardson *

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

* William Thomas Waggoner *

Amon Carter Amon Giles Carter Sr. (born Giles Amon Carter; December 11, 1879 – June 23, 1955) was the creator and publisher of the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth, Texas. A legacy in his will was used t ...

Jr. *

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

Baron Von Wrangle Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, an

Arrow Collar Man The Arrow Collar Man was the name given to the various male models who appeared in advertisements for shirts and detachable shirt collars manufactured by Cluett Peabody & Company of Troy, New York. The original campaign ran from 1905–31, tho ...

* Will Rogers * Jimmy Robinson * Knute Rockne * Frank Phillips * Jack Chrysler *

Herbert Marcus Herbert Marcus (September 6, 1878 – December 11, 1950) was one of the co-founders of Neiman Marcus, and later became its chief executive officer. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Kentucky, Marcus moved to Hillsboro, Texas after dropping ou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Electra Waggoner 1912 births 2001 deaths People from Fort Worth, Texas American socialites American women sculptors Sculptors from Texas 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists