Press Women of Texas (PWT) is an association of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

women

journalists A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

which was founded in 1893. PWT is an affiliate of the

National Federation of Press Women The National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) is a United States–based organization of professional women and men pursuing careers in the field of communications, including electronic, broadcast and print journalism, public relations, marketing, a ...

(NFPW). PWT was involved in more than just supporting women in journalism; the organization advocated many causes, including education, preservation of library and archive materials and supporting scholarships. They also supported

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in Texas in 1915. Angela Smith is the current president of PWT.

History

Press Women of Texas (PWT) was started on May 10, 1893 in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and was originally named the Texas Woman's Press Association (TWPA). Aurelia Hadley Mohl, a journalist from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

invited 38 women to hear a proposal to form the TWPA in 1893. Mohl had been a member of the

Woman's National Press Association Woman's National Press Association (W.N.P.A.) was an American professional association for women journalists. The constitution declared that the object of the association was to advance and encourage women in literary work, and to secure the benefi ...

and felt that a similar group in Texas would be good for women writers in that state. Forty-three women would become charter members of TWPA. Mohl was the first president of TWPA, elected in 1895. Originally, the group was created in order to provide professional encouragement for Texas women writers of all types and included

illustrators An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicated ...

. TWPA allowed women in Texas to be full participants of a press club. TWPA would meet annually for an assembly session which included networking and speeches. TWPA was involved in pushing for the establishment of the school which later became

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...

. TWPA, along with the

Texas Federation of Women's Clubs The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs (TFWC) is a non-profit women's organization in Texas which was founded in 1897. The purpose of the group is to create a central organization for women's clubs and their members in Texas relating to education, ...

, the

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...

and the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

worked towards the creation of a school where women could receive a "practical education." By 1913, the group was influential enough to push for women to be included at the University of Texas' new School of Journalism, which opened in 1914. TWPA, in 1916, was the first organization to provide scholarships for the new journalism school. TWPA became affiliated with the

(NFPW) in 1938. After 1941, the group restricted its membership to active journalists only. TWPA supported the building of a better

Texas State Library The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the state government agency in the state of Texas that supports the reading, learning, and historical preservation needs of Texas and its people. The agency is charged with preserv ...

and archive in 1939. Their initiative wasn't successful, but was important in bringing attention to the poor state of the

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

at the time. The organization changed its name to Texas Press Women (TPW) in 1961, and became officially incorporated. TPW also broadened its scope that year to include any women writer in the communications field. TPW divided itself into several districts by 1971. In 1995, the group again changed its name to Texas Professional Communicators (TPC). This was in line with a national trend where former women's press groups were ceasing to identify with their

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

. In 2002, it changed its name to Press Women of Texas.

Notable people

* Jessie Andrews (American academic), poet laureate of the PWT *

Willie Franklin Pruit Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and d ...

(1865-1947), American poet *

Cornelia Branch Stone Cornelia Branch Stone (1840–1925) was an American Woman's club movement in the United States, clubwoman and Women's suffrage in the United States, suffragist from Texas. She served as President-General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy ...

(1840–1925), president

References

External links

Official site
* 1893 establishments in Texas Women's organizations based in the United States American women writers Organizations for women writers Women in Texas Journalists from Texas {{Authority control

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links