Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson

by Jessica Brannon-Wranosky (Editor), Bruce A. Glasrud (Editor), John R. Lundberg (Contribution by), Kay Reed Arnold (Contribution by), Rachel M. Gunter (Contribution by)

Overview

In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson’s political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women’s enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician.

Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Bruce A. Glasrud have brought together top scholars to shine a light on this unique chapter in Texas history. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. Kay Reed Arnold then follows the Ferguson story into the halls of academia at the University of Texas—which Ferguson threatened to close—sparking a fierce response by faculty, alumni, students, and, especially, the Women’s Committee for Good Government. Rachel M. Gunter further places the Ferguson impeachment in the context of the suffrage movement. Leah LaGrone Ochoa then explores Ferguson’s hot-and-cold relationship with the Texas press, and Mark Stanley examines the impact of the impeachment on Texas politics in the decades that followed. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Ferguson's impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson reveals how power ebbed and flowed in twentieth-century Texas and includes several annotated primary documents critical to understanding the Ferguson impeachment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623495282
Publisher:	Texas A&M University Press
Publication date:	03/17/2017
Series:	Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University , #126
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

JESSICA BRANNON-WRANOSKY is the Distinguished Professor of Digital Humanities and History at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Her most recent publications include contributions to Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives and Discovering Texas History. BRUCE A. GLASRUD is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, and retired dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Sul Ross State University. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than two dozen books, most recently Anti-Black Violence in Twentieth-Century Texas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: James Edward "Farmer Jim" Ferguson's Impeachment and Its Ramifications Jessica Brannon-Wranosky Bruce A. Glasrud 1

Part I Studies

Chapter 1 The Great Texas "Bear Fight": Progressivism and the Impeachment of James E. Ferguson John R. Lundberg 13

Chapter 2 "Think of the Lives That Might Be Saved": James Ferguson, Women's War Work, and the University of Texas Kay Reed Arnold 53

Chapter 3 "Without Us, It Is Ferguson with a Plurality": Woman Suffrage and Anti-Ferguson Politics Rachel M. Gunter 85

Chapter 4 In the Public Eye: Texas Governor James Ferguson's Fight with the Press Leah LaGrone Ochoa 110

Chapter 5 Fergusonism, Factionalization, and Thirty Years of Texas Politics Mark Stanley 135

Chapter 6 The Texas Governor's Impeachment in Historical Memory Jessica Brannon-Wranosky 158

Part II Documents

Document 1 Ferguson's Texas Farm Tenant Law Comment Kyle G. Wilkison Katherine Kuehler Walters 168

Document 2 Minnie Fisher Cunningham to Carrie Chapman Catt Letter Comment Judith N. McArthur 175

Document 3 Pat M. Neff to William Pettus Hobby Letter Comment Ricky Floyd Dobbs 179

Ferguson's Impeachment: A Selected Bibliography Jessica Brannon-Wranosky Bruce A. Glasrnd 185

Index 191

Interviews

Commerce, TX; San Antonio, TX

Editorial Reviews

I highly recommend this volume, not only for those interested in Texas political history, but for anyone interested in contemplating historical parallels to our current times.”— Southwestern Historical Quarterly
 

Southwestern Historical Quarterly