Mary Frances Tarlton "Sissy" Farenthold (October 2, 1926 – September 26, 2021) was an American politician, attorney, activist, and educator. She was best known for her two campaigns for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974, and for being placed in nomination for

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

, finishing second at the

1972 Democratic National Convention The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, also the host city of the Repub ...

. She was elected as the first chair of the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...

in 1973.

Early life and education

Mary Frances Tarlton was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on October 2, 1926, the daughter of Catherine (Bluntzer) and Benjamin Dudley Tarlton, Jr., a district attorney. She was nicknamed "Sissy" as her slightly older brother could not yet pronounce the word sister. After attending the Hockaday School, Farenthold graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

in 1946. In 1949, she graduated from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

. She was one of only three women in a class of 800. Farenthold came from a line of lawyers and judges. Her grandfather, Judge Benjamin D. Tarlton Sr., served as chief justice of the Texas Court of Civil Appeals, a state legislator, professor at the

and as the namesake of the University of Texas School of Law Tarlton Law Library.

Career

Politics

Farenthold started her political career in 1968 when she was elected to represent Nueces and Kleberg counties in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

. She ran against Jack K. Pedigo of Corpus Christi, Texas, graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and World War II veteran. She was the only woman serving in the Texas House at the time. Senator

Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...

was then the only woman serving in the Texas Senate. They co-sponsored the Equal Legal Rights Amendment to the Texas Constitution. Farenthold was the third woman whose name was put into nomination for

at a major party's

nominating convention A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpo ...

. The first was

Lena Springs Lena Jones Wade Springs (March 22, 1883 - May 17, 1942) was the first woman placed in nomination for Vice President of the United States at a political convention. She was nominated at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. A native of Pulask ...

, who was not a public official and whose

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

nomination was a gesture of affection. The second was

India Edwards India Edwards (June 16, 1895 – January 14, 1990) was an American journalist and political advisor who served as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. She was an advocate for women in politics. Her memoirs, ''Pulling No Punches'', ...

in 1952, whose nomination was also a gesture of gratitude for her influence over

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

. At the Democratic National Convention in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, Farenthold came in second to the presidential nominee's choice, U.S. Senator

Thomas F. Eagleton Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was an American lawyer serving as a United States senator from Missouri, from 1968 to 1987. He was briefly the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972. He ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. She garnered more delegate votes (404.04) than Senator

Mike Gravel Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, Senator

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the India ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and Governor

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, among others. In 1972 and 1974, she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas. She was defeated both times by

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election foll ...

of Uvalde, who went on to win the general election each time. In 1973, she was elected as the first chair of the

. She later served as president of

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes ...

in Aurora, New York, from 1976 to 1980. Farenthold founded the Public Leadership Education Network in 1978 with key support for her vision from Ruth Mandel, who directed the

Center for American Women and Politics The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) is a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Established in 1971, it is nationally and internationally recognized as the leadin ...

, which is a part of the

Eagleton Institute of Politics The Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University was established in 1956 with an endowment from Florence Peshine Eagleton (1870–1953), and it focuses on state and national politics through education and public service. Ruth Mandel served ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and

Betsey Wright Betsey Ross Wright (born July 4, 1943) is an American lobbyist, activist, and political consultant who worked more than a decade for Bill Clinton in Arkansas.Baquet (1994)Gambrell (2009)Linn (2009) She served as chief of staff to Governor Clint ...

, who headed the National Women's Education Fund. The organization was founded on Farenthold's proposal that women's colleges needed to work together to educate and prepare women for public leadership.

Human rights work

During her tenure at Wells, Farenthold expanded her work with women’s groups and anti-nuclear, peace, and human rights groups. She was an active member of

Helsinki Watch Helsinki Watch was a private American non-governmental organization established by Robert L. Bernstein in 1978, designed to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Expanding in size and scope, Helsinki Watch b ...

, the predecessor to the organization

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

. Farenthold left Wells College in 1980 to return to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, where she opened a private law practice and taught law at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

. She also continued to devote significant time to the international women’s movement and began a collaboration with her cousin, Genevieve Vaughan, that would last the next decade. Farenthold and Vaughan organized the Peace Tent at the 1985

U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

NGO Forum in

Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

, in conjunction with the third United Nations World Conference on Women. They also were founding members of Women For a Meaningful Summit, an ad hoc coalition of female leaders voicing concerns for

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

at the Reagan–Gorbachev summits. Farenthold worked with the

Institute for Policy Studies The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American progressive think tank started in 1963 that is based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 2021 Tope Folarin was announced as new Executive Director. ...

(IPS), a progressive multi-issue think tank devoted to peace, justice, and the environment. With IPS, Farenthold made trips to investigate human rights violations in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. She was an emeritus trustee for the

and served on the advisory board of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. She also served as honorary director of the

Rothko Chapel The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art: on its walls are fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko in v ...

in Houston.

Personal life

She married George Farenthold (1915–2000) in 1950 and divorced him in 1985. They had five children: Dudley (born 1951), George Jr. (born 1952), Emilie (born 1954), and twins Vincent Bluntzer Tarlton (1956–1960) and James Robert Dougherty (born 1956; disappeared 1989). Her step-grandson, Blake Farenthold, was elected in 2010 to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Texas as a Republican, and served as a member of the

Tea Party Caucus The Tea Party Caucus (TPC) was a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. The Caucus was founded in July 2010 by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in coordination w ...

until he resigned April 6, 2018, due to allegations he used $84,000 of taxpayer money to pay a settlement to a former aide who accused him of sexual harassment and other improper conduct.

Death

Farenthold died from complications caused by

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

on September 26, 2021, at the age of 94 at her home in Houston.

References

External links

Frances Tarlton "Sissy" Farenthold: A Noble Citizen
an online exhibit about Farenthold and her career, from th
Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice
at UT Austin

The archival finding aid to Farenthold's physical papers at the Briscoe Center for American History at UT Austin.

fro
Oral Histories of the American South

The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice
* Farenthold, Frances "Sissy" and Frank Michel
Frances "Sissy" Farenthold Oral History
, Houston Oral History Project, October 1, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Farenthold, Frances 1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women American women academics Candidates in the 1972 United States elections Candidates in the 1974 United States elections Deaths from Parkinson's disease Female candidates for Vice President of the United States Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Hockaday School alumni Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Corpus Christi, Texas University of Houston faculty Vassar College alumni Wells College faculty Women heads of universities and colleges Women state legislators in Texas