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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, March 19, 2025, marks the 143rd anniversary of the |
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birth of trailblazing activist Minnie Fisher Cunningham, who played |
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a vital role in securing women's suffrage; and |
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WHEREAS, The daughter of Horatio and Sallie Fisher, the |
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former Minnie Fisher was born on the family farm near New Waverly in |
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1882; she was one of the first women in the state to receive a |
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pharmacy degree but soon discovered that her untrained male |
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colleagues made twice her salary; following her marriage to Beverly |
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"Bill" Cunningham, she became active in social reform efforts in |
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Galveston; she chaired two Women's Health Protective Association |
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committees and was a founding member and then president of the |
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Galveston Equal Suffrage Association; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Cunningham was elected president of the Texas |
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Equal Suffrage Association in 1915; membership grew to 10,000 under |
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her leadership, and her formidable coalition-building and |
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negotiating skills resulted in a bill granting Texas women the |
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right to vote in state primary elections; the National American |
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Woman Suffrage Association recruited her to lobby Congress and |
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President Woodrow Wilson, and she eventually became the group's |
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congressional secretary; after passage of the 19th Amendment in |
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1919, she traveled across the Southwest to rally support for |
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ratification; her shrewdness and determination were instrumental |
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in making Texas the first southern state to ratify the amendment, |
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thwarting an attempt to create a regional bulwark against it; and |
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WHEREAS, A founder and officer of the National League of |
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Women Voters, Mrs. Cunningham successfully championed the nation's |
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first social welfare measure, the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and |
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Infancy Act; back in Texas, she became one of the first American |
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women to pursue a career in party politics, running for the |
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U.S. Senate in 1928 and the governorship in 1944; she was an early |
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inspiration to Eleanor Roosevelt and in turn energetically |
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supported the Roosevelt administration's New Deal initiatives in |
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numerous professional and volunteer capacities, including editor |
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for the Texas A&M University Agricultural Extension Service, senior |
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specialist in the Information Division of the federal Agricultural |
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Adjustment Administration, and acting head of the Women's Division |
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of the Democratic National Committee; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Cunningham returned to New Waverly to run the |
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family farm but remained highly engaged in the progressive |
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movement; in 1954, she helped establish the Texas Observer, and six |
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years later, she managed the local headquarters of the |
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John F. Kennedy presidential campaign, which carried Walker |
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County; she died on December 9, 1964, at the age of 82; and |
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WHEREAS, Through her vision, resolve, and extraordinary |
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ability, Minnie Fisher Cunningham contributed enormously to the |
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empowerment of American women, and 60 years after her passing, her |
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accomplishments continue to resonate; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 143rd anniversary of the birth |
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of Minnie Fisher Cunningham. |