Emma George Latchem

Friends in Orange used the title Mother of Orange in their tributes on her birthday, July 15, and a 1929 account calls her the town's most beloved teacher. She taught four generations of pupils in the city schools before a permanent injury ended her classroom years around 1915. Away from school she organized the Wesley Bible Class at First Methodist Church in 1914 and served as the first president of its Women's Missionary Society. She was also an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She died in March 1929 at the age of 74.

What the plaque says

Emma George Latchem (July 15, 1854-March 27, 1929) Born in Quitman, Texas, Emma (George) Latchem came to Orange in 1871 after her husband died. Mrs. Latchem began teaching in 1873 in a private school. She joined the public school system when it opened in 1884. Devoted to teaching, she helped found the mothers and teachers club in 1908 which worked to improve classroom conditions. She was a charter member of the Orange Eastern Star. After 42 years of teaching, she retired in 1915. Recorded - 1979

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stark Museum of Art — 0.6 mi
  A white-marble museum in Orange built by the Stark Foundation and opened in 1978, holding Western art, American Indian art, Audubon's Birds of America and Steuben glass, free to enter.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 1.2 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 19 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 21 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• Robert B. Russell — steps away
• Samuel Wallace Sholars, M.D. — steps away
• John Thomas Stark — steps away
• Dr. Samuel M. Brown — steps away