Cunningham, Minnie Fisher

Fisher was born on March 19, 1882, on Fisher Farms near New Waverly, the daughter of planter and legislator Horatio White Fisher. She helped found the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association in 1912 and served four terms as president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association, 1915 to 1919, building it to about 10,000 members. In 1918 she negotiated the bill that gave Texas women the vote in state primaries. In the 1928 Senate race she finished fifth of six in the Democratic primary and carried only one county, Walker.

What the plaque says

Cunningham, Minnie Fisher (March 19, 1882-December 9, 1964) A native of Walker County, Minnie Fisher earned a pharmacy degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1901. She worked in a Huntsville drugstore and married attorney B. J. Cunningham in 1902. They moved to Galveston in 1907, and she later lived in Austin and Washington, D.C. A leader in woman suffrage organizations, she was president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and helped found the National League of Women Voters. In 1928 she became the first Texas woman to run for the U.S. Senate. Her campaign was unsuccessful, and the year also was marred by the death of her husband. Her career turned toward public relations for government agencies, including the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An activist in the National Democratic Party, she counted President Franklin D. Roosevelt among the many friends who fondly called her by her nickname, "Minnie Fish". In 1944 she ran for Governor of Texas against Coke Stevenson, placing second among nine candidates in the primary. She built a home near this site in 1946 and continued to work in Democratic Party politics until her death at age 82. (1990)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Henderson Yoakum Homesite — 6.1 mi
• Site of Former Town of Danville — 6.8 mi
• Waverly Cemetery — 7.5 mi
• Old Waverly — 8.2 mi