TEXAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

would be well-educated by sendingthem to the Academy of Nazareth, alocal convent boarding school and thebest educational facility in Victoria. 2My late father, John H.Crooker, Jr., reminisced that hismaternal Grandma Ward, Hortense,had an unusually keen mind for awoman of her day. 3 In a recent oralhistory about his Grandma Ward,my uncle, Fr. Robert Crooker, notedthat he had never seen a womanwith her spirit. Tough, extremelygenerous toward others and theiraccomplishments, she gave her all toeverything she did. 4 I surmise that shedid not believe in half measures.A Unique Womanin Her DayAt first, Hortense followeda traditional path for women of herera, marrying and teaching school.Her home life then forced significantLetter from Chief Justice Joe Greenhill to Linda Hunsaker, April 4, 1986.change. 5 On May 11, 1906, Hortensedivorced Albert Malsch in a Harris County court. It was a bold move in the early twentieth century. As herdivorce petition explained, her husband, Albert, was “lazy and of no account, and …works only about half ofthe time ….” 6A well-educated woman, she had taken steps even before her divorce to advance in her own career so shecould better take care of herself and her children. In 1903, she and her family had moved from Edna—a smalltown near Victoria where opportunities were limited—to Houston, taking her three daughters to what was alreadya vibrant city. She learned stenography so she could increase her earnings by working as a court reporter. 7While Hortense was a court reporter, she grew avidly interested in the practice of law. In a time-honoredtradition since the Founding Fathers, she devoted herself to “reading the law,” that is, devoting her nonworking2School officials renamed it Nazareth Academy in 1921. See Lynna Kay Shuffield, The Hon. Hortense Sparks Malsch Ward (1872-1944), Hist’l Narrative for Tex. Hist. Subject Marker Applic’n (Harris Cty. Hist. Comm., Aug. 2009), 1.3See Barbara Karkabi, “Judge O’Connor’s nomination reminds us: Once Texas had an all-woman Supreme Court!,” Houston Chronicle,Sec. 4, 6 (July 13, 1981) (hereinafter, Karkabi, “O’Connor’s nomination,” Houston Chronicle).4See Transcribed interview with Fr. Robert Crooker for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (hereinafter, “NCMHOF”),interview conducted by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal (Aug. 29, 2011).5See Shuffield, Hon. Hortense Sparks Malsch Ward, Hist’l Narrative, at 1.6See Malsch v. Malsch, No. 39906 (61st Dist. Ct., Harris Cnty., Tex.)7See Betty T. Chapman, Houston Women: Invisible Threads in the Tapestry (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning Co. Pubs., 2000), 93-94.52