DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Annie Webb Blanton. Now there's a name that deserves to be said slowly, out loud, more than once.
Born in 1870, educated in the public schools of Houston and La Grange — two very different Texas towns, which maybe tells you something about the kind of woman she'd become. By 1887, she was already teaching, just a young woman standing at the front of a classroom in the small Fayette County town of Pine Springs. That was only the beginning.
The following year, 1888, she moved to Austin, taught public school, and attended the University of Texas all at the same time, because apparently one thing at a time was never quite her speed. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1899, and from there she joined the faculty at North Texas State Normal School in Denton. Now, here's where the story starts to pick up momentum.
In 1916, Annie Webb Blanton was elected the first woman president of the Texas State Teachers Association. First woman. Full stop.
But she wasn't done stacking firsts. Two years later — 1918 — she won the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, making her the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas. Let that land for a moment.
The entire state of Texas. First woman. And during her four years in that office, she was instrumental in the passage of much-needed progressive education legislation, the kind of work that doesn't always get its name in lights but changes lives all the same.
She kept right on learning while she was changin' things, earning a master's degree in 1923 and a doctorate in 1927. By 1933 she was a full professor at the University of Texas. And in 1929, she founded the Delta Kappa Gamma Society for women educators — an organization built to lift up the very people she'd spent her whole life standing alongside.
Dr. Annie Webb Blanton died in 1945, and she is buried at Oakwood Cemetery right here in Austin. Elementary schools in Austin, Dallas, and Odessa carry her name.
The marker says she left behind a legacy of professionalism and vision to inspire generations of Texas women. I'd say that's exactly right. Pine Springs to the history books — not bad for a teacher who started out in 1887 with nothing but drive and a classroom full of possibilities.
What the marker says
Annie Webb Blanton (1870-1945). Educated in the public schools of Houston and La Grange, Anne Webb Blanton began her teaching career in 1887 in the small Fayette County town of Pine Springs. In 1888 she moved to Austin, where she taught public school and attended the University of Texas. After receiving her bachelor's degree in 1899, Blanton became a member of the faculty at North Texas State Normal School in Denton. In 1916 she was elected the first woman president of the Texas State Teachers Association. Two years later she became the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas when she won the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. During her four years in office she was instrumental in the passage of much-needed progressive education legislation. Earning a master's degree in 1923 and a doctorate in 1927, Blanton became a full professor at the University of Texas in 1933./ She founded the Delta Kappa Gamma Society for women educators in 1929. Dr. Annie Webb Blanton died in 1945, leaving behind a legacy of professionalism and vision to inspire generations of Texas women. Elementary schools in Austin, Dallas and Odessa were named in her honor. She is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. (1988)