TEXAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

state’s highest court, Governor Pat Neff appointed three women—Hortense Ward of Houston, Edith Wilmans ofDallas, and Nellie Gray Robertson of Granbury to replace the disqualified justices. Then Neff discovered thatRobertson, who was to have been chief justice, and Wilmans did not have the seven years of experience requiredfor the post. Neff sought to place Emma Webb of Elgin on the court, but she, too, was unqualified. The governorfinally found qualified lawyers in Hattie Henenberg of Dallas and Ruth Brazzil of Galveston. Hortense Ward wasthen named chief justice. 6 Of the thirty licensed female lawyers in Texas at that time, it appears that only ten hadmore than seven years of service at the bar. 7A week before the case was to be heard, The Dallas Morning News reported, “All records were shatteredand at least three precedents established . . . when Gov. Neff appointed a special Supreme Court composed entirelyof women. It was a healthy New Year gift of recognition to the woman barrister of today. This is the first instance awoman has been appointed to sit on the supreme bench; it is the first time a higher court is to be composed entirelyof women; and it is the initial case where a majority of the judges will be women.” 8 Both the legal profession andthe public were waiting in anticipation to see if women could, indeed, carry forth such an important task.The court session opened on January 8, 1925. The clerk of the court was absent. According to papers inthe Texas State Library, he “arrived with a cane fishing pole and a jug . . . saying . . . I’ll be d---ed if I am going tonursemaid a bunch of women. I’m going fishing.” 9 And he departed. The three women were administered the oathof office, which at that time required each justice to swear that she had never fought a duel. It was duly noted thatnone of them raised their right hands as they took the oath. The case, Johnson v. Darr, was heard on January 30,1925. Four months later the all-female court affirmed the decision of the appeals court with Chief Justice Wardwriting the opinion. 10 The proceedings were widely publicized as being a novelty. Ward, however, remarked, “Thenovelty . . . is entirely lost in the great responsibility.” 11In an appearance before the Texas House of Representatives, Ward added, “It is the ambition of the womentoday to break down the prejudices which men have against them in business and the professions, so that the waymay be smoother for those who follow.” 12 Although the female justices’ capable efforts were widely considereda step in that direction, it would be almost sixty years before another woman sat on the Texas Supreme Court. 13That landmark event occurred in 1982 when Ruby Kless Sondock was appointed to the high court. Shelater recalled that she thought the letter from the governor’s office was a joke and called the Capitol to verify thatit was real. 14 Sondock had never dreamed of becoming a judge, but in 1973 she was the first female lawyer inHarris County appointed to a judicial position, initially in a family court and four years later in the 234th DistrictCourt. Although Sondock served on the Supreme Court of Texas for only six months, she opened the doors to the6Hollace Weiner, “A Case When Women Reigned Supreme,” 59(9) Tex. B. J. 890-891.7Evans, “An Exceptional Legacy,” 13.8Dallas Morning News.9Weiner, “A Case,” 891.10Ibid. As of 1998, the holdings set forth in Johnson v. Darr had been mentioned in cases and law review articles more than thirty-fivetimes since the court’s opinion was published, according to Shepherd’s Citations. As precedent, the case has been used to supportlater arguments in appellate courts.11Evans, “An Exceptional Legacy,” 15.12“Legislators Hear Mrs. Hortense Ward,” Houston Chronicle (Jan. 31, 1925). While in Austin, Ward, true to her persevering personality,presented a bill to the legislature which would provide a court of domestic relations in Harris County. Houston Chronicle (Jan. 30, 1925).13A portrait of the 1925 court was hung in the Supreme Court Building in 1997. Judge Ruby Sondock, who participated with thededication ceremony for the portrait, said, “If they could see us now!”14Texas Bar Journal, 55, 1:98.78