TEXAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

hours to the systematic study of lawwhile raising her family. Educationaland aspirational values ran high in thefamily. Hortense’s future son-in-law,my grandfather John H. Crooker, Sr.,received his law license in the samefashion in 1911.Hortense’s courage andintense ambition set her apart fromothers. In 1910, she became the firstwoman to pass the Texas bar exam,opening the door to practicing lawthroughout the state. 8 As SupremeCourt of Texas Chief Justice JackPope observed during a Friends of theState Library ceremony in Austin,The first of her greatachievements wasto study and becomethe first woman inTexas to pass thebar exam. A secondaccomplishment washer enrollment as thefirst lady member ofthe State Bar of Texas,back when it was avoluntary bar. 9Hortense’s success in passing thestate bar exam, as well as otheraccomplishments, “exemplified hertenacity, courage, and ability” evenmore than “the brief time she filledthe [Chief Justice] position as thehighest judicial officer in Texas.” 10Hortense’s middle daughter,my paternal grandmother MargueriteHortense Malsch’s original petition for divorce.Photo provided by Francisco Heredia, Historical Documents RecordCenter, Harris County District Clerk.“Rita” Crooker (Mrs. John H.Crooker, Sr.), responded to a Houston Chronicle interviewer by saying that her Mother passed the bar exam with8See James L. Haley, The Texas Supreme Court: A Narrative History, 1836-1986 (Austin: Univ. Tex. Press, 2013), 146; Chapman,Houston Women, 93-94.9See Pope, Chief Justice Ward, 1.10See id.53