howeenterprise.com
Monday, July 15, 2019
Page #13
Texas History Minute “It all depends on whether you’re willing to work hard enough to get what you want, not what stands in your way,” Judge Sarah T. Hughes Dr. Ken said in 1977. Bridges Hughes faced obstacles in her life, but became the first woman appointed as a federal judge in Texas and also became a nationallyknown figure amidst a national tragedy.
in her time in the legislature, but failed. She continued to work for it afterward, and as a result of her work, the right for Texas women to serve on juries was secured by 1954.
In January 1935, as Hughes started her third term in the legislature, Gov. James V. Allred appointed Hughes to an open judicial, the 14th District Court in Dallas. In the process, she became the first Texas woman to serve as a district judge. She was elected to a full term in 1936 and re-elected every four years up to 1960. When influential Dallas She was born Sarah Tilghman in Baltimore in 1896. As a youth, she Congressman Hatton Sumners was extremely intelligent and also retired in 1946, Hughes jumped at the chance to run for the seat that very determined. She excelled at comprised all of Dallas County. athletics and academics alike. However, she came just short in She earned a bachelors degree from the primary against J. Franklin Baltimore’s Goucher College, then Wilson, himself a former Dallas judge. an all-women’s college. After graduating in 1917, she took a series of interesting jobs on her way She had become a respected figure in legal circles and had to her law career. She taught generously donated to her old science for two years at a small college in Maryland. In honor of school in North Carolina before what she had achieved, Goucher coming to Washington, DC, to College established the Sarah T. attend law school at George Washington University. In a time Hughes Field Center in Politics to study Maryland politics and to before women could vote encourage students to get more nationwide or even attend some universities, she was determined to heavily involved in politics. She become an attorney and worked her helped secure Dallas County’s way through law school as a police first juvenile detention center in officer, taking classes at night. For 1950. In 1952, she was surprised a time, she even had to live in a tent by being nominated for vicepresident at the Democratic on the edge of the city. National Convention. She She met her future husband, George realized she did not have a chance and won only one vote while the Hughes, a Texas native, in law vice-presidential nomination went school. The two married in 1922 to Sen. John Sparkman of and left for Dallas. While her husband quickly found success with Alabama with Illinois Gov. Adlai a private firm, Sarah Hughes had a Stevenson heading the ticket. difficult time as a woman in spite of Hughes ran for the State Supreme her impressive law school degree. One law firm in Dallas hired her as Court in 1958. In a hard-fought a receptionist and only handed her a contest, she won 49.3% of the vote, coming up just 14,000 votes few cases at first. Within a short short in her race against time, she earned the respect of the other attorneys. Nevertheless, she incumbent Justice Joe Greenhill. enjoyed the law and “the thrill of a fight” as an attorney, as she told an In spite of her disappointing loss, Hughes was still looking forward audience in 1928. as the 1960s approached. She In 1930, she was elected to the state would soon embark on the most memorable phase of her career. legislature. She worked for rights ...Continued next week. for women and served on the Judiciary and Labor committees. One issue she had become Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, passionate about was a law barring writer, and history professor. He women from serving on juries. She can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail.com. attempted to have the law changed
This sign coming to a downtown wall near you.
This sign coming to a downtown wall near you.
