Robert Ewing Thomason
Robert Ewing Thomason was an El Paso attorney, state legislator, mayor, U.S. Congressman and Federal Judge, who devoted more than fifty years of his life to public service. He earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1900 and began his practice in Gainesville where he was elected district attorney and county attorney. In 1912, Thomason moved to El Paso, where he joined the law firm of Tom Lea, Jr. Thomason served in the Texas Legislature from 1917 to 1921. He was elected Speaker of the House and helped secure Texas’ support for the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. He told fellow legislators “i want the American woman to walk by the side of the American man to the ballot box.”
In 1927, Thomason was elected mayor of El Paso on a “Clean Government” ticket. As mayor, he oversaw the construction of the first municipal airport. He was then elected to the U. S. Congress, where he served the 16th district from 1931 to 1947. He helped establish Big Bend National Park, and as a member of the house committee on military affairs, oversaw the expansion of Fort Bliss, Biggs Army Air Field and William Beaumont General Hospital. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman appointed Thomason Federal Judge for the Western District of Texas. In this courthouse, he presided over many landmark cases, including the Thelma White Desegregation Case (1955), Clinton Jencks Perjury Trial (1955), Bearden Plane Hijacking Case (1961), and Billie Sol Estes Fraud Trial (1963). Thomason died in 1973 at the age of 94, having served in all three branches of government.