History & Politics
Ma Ferguson
Miriam 'Ma' Ferguson became the first woman elected governor of Texas in 1924 and returned for a second nonconsecutive term in 1933, but her administrations were inseparable from husband James Ferguson's political machine and recurrent controversies over pardons, patronage and state contracts.
- Roster rank
- #34
- Category
- History & Politics
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson was born in Bell County in 1875, attended Salado College and Baylor Female College, and married James E. Ferguson in 1899. She had little independent political background before her husband's impeachment barred him from future state office. When James Ferguson could not appear on the ballot in 1924, Miriam entered the governor's race with a campaign that explicitly promised voters the influence of both Fergusons and also opposed the Ku Klux Klan.
Ferguson won the 1924 election and became the first woman elected governor of Texas; she was inaugurated shortly after Wyoming's Nellie Tayloe Ross, making Ferguson the second woman to serve as a U.S. governor. Her first administration enacted an anti-mask law aimed at the Klan, although courts later invalidated it, and drew intense criticism over the extraordinary number of pardons and allegations of favoritism and corruption involving clemency and highway contracts. Defeated in 1926, Ferguson returned to win again in 1932 and served a second term from 1933 to 1935. Her political career remained closely tied to James Ferguson until their retirement from major state office.
Defining work
What to know
- First woman elected governor of Texas
- 1924 anti-Klan gubernatorial campaign
- Anti-mask legislation aimed at Ku Klux Klan activity
- Liberal clemency and pardon policy
- Second nonconsecutive gubernatorial term
- Ferguson family political organization
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1875Born Miriam Amanda Wallace in Bell County, Texas.
- 1899Marries James E. Ferguson.
- 1915–1917Serves as first lady during James Ferguson's governorship until his impeachment and removal.
- 1924Wins the governorship after campaigning against the Ku Klux Klan and for vindication of the Ferguson political name.
- 1925Takes office as Texas's first woman governor and adopts a highly liberal pardon policy.
- 1926Loses the Democratic primary to Dan Moody.
- 1932Wins another gubernatorial election during the Great Depression.
- 1933–1935Serves a second, nonconsecutive term as governor.
- 1940Makes a final unsuccessful run for governor.
- 1961Dies in Austin.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Central Texas county where Miriam Wallace Ferguson was born and raised.
Temple
Bell County city closely associated with the Ferguson family's business and political base.
Austin
State capital where Ferguson served two nonconsecutive gubernatorial terms.
Texas State Cemetery
Austin burial place of Miriam and James Ferguson.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Ferguson's election broke a major gender barrier in Texas politics, but her candidacy was not a simple story of independent female political ascent. She openly ran as part of the Ferguson family organization, and James Ferguson remained a central adviser and political force throughout her administrations.
Her anti-Klan positioning and first-woman milestone coexist with substantial governance controversies. Texas State Library material documents an average of roughly one hundred pardons a month during her first term and contemporary allegations that clemency and highway contracting were subject to improper influence. A responsible profile preserves both sides of that record.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles