Annie Webb Blanton

ANNIE WEBB BLANTON, BORN AUG. 19, 1870 IN HOUSTON TO THOMAS LINDSEY AND EUGENIA WEBB BLANTON, BEGAN HER TEACHING CAREER AT PINE SPRINGS SCHOOL (FAYETTE CO.) AT AGE 17. SHE THEN TAUGHT FOR A FEW YEARS IN AUSTIN, WHERE SHE GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. IN 1901, BLANTON BEGAN HER 17-YEAR TEACHING CAREER AS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT NORTH TEXAS STATE NORMAL COLLEGE (NOW UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS) WHERE SHE PROMOTED GENDER UNITY, PUBLISHED GRAMMAR EXERCISE BOOKS WHICH WERE USED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND ASSISTED IN NUMEROUS SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.

BLANTON IS REMEMBERED FOR BECOMING THE FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT OF THE TEXAS STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION IN 1916 AND THE FIRST WOMAN ELECTED TO A STATE OFFICE AS THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN 1918. IN 1921, DENTON COUNTY HONORED BLANTON FOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN EDUCATION WHEN IT NAMED THE COUNTY’S CONSOLIDATED HAWK AND CHINN’S CHAPEL SCHOOLS THE ANNIE BLANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT. IN 1922, AFTER SERVING A SECOND TERM AS STATE SUPERINTENDENT, SHE RAN AS A DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR REPRESENTATIVE OF THE THIRTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT BUT CAME IN THIRD. SHE EARNED A MASTER’S DEGREE IN 1923, FOLLOWED BY A DOCTORATE IN 1927, AND WAS MADE AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND CHAIR OF THE RURAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. IN 1933, BLANTON WAS PROMOTED TO A FULL PROFESSOR. IN ADDITION, SHE IS NOTED FOR BEING A MEMBER OF NUMEROUS PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND FOR HELPING FOUND THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA SOCIETY IN 1929. BLANTON DIED OCT. 2, 1945 AND CONTINUES TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR HER LEADERSHIP, COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND NUMEROUS ACHIEVEMENTS IN OFFICES THAT HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN HELD BY WOMEN.