Betty Eve Ballinger
February 3, 1854–March 3, 1936
Betty Eve Ballinger was born in Galveston in 1854, nearly twenty years after the Texas Revolution. As a young woman, she was captivated by stories of the struggles of Texas patriots. Her grandfather, William Houston Jack, fought at the Battle of San Jacinto.
After studying in New Orleans and Baltimore, Ballinger returned to Galveston, where she and her cousin, Hally Bryan Perry, cultivated their interest in Texas history. They decided to form a genealogical organization to preserve the memories of those who fought for the republic. The two recruited other women and, in 1891, formed the organization now known as the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Today, the DRT continues its mission of preserving historic sites, providing educational programs, and encouraging historical research. Due to the efforts of Ballinger and the DRT, statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston stand in both the Texas and United States Capitols.
Ballinger was also active in a number of progressive reform organizations, especially following the 1900 Galveston hurricane. With groups such as the Women’s Health Protective Association and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, she advocated for environmental protection, public health, fair labor practices, and women's suffrage.
As Betty Ballinger preserved the Texas past, she also shaped its future. She died in 1936—the centennial of the Battle of San Jacinto.
For More about Betty Eve Ballinger
The Galveston and Texas History Center contains a file on Betty Ballinger, and the Hally Ballinger Bryan Perry Papers at the Briscoe Center for American History include documents from the founding of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
The Republic of Texas Museum, opened to the public in 1921, was established to preserve and promote Texas history. The Museum is currently closed, but the DRT plans to re-open in a new location in east Austin within the next several years.
The Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs Collection is held in the Woman’s Collection in Blagg-Huey Library at Texas Woman's University. Betty Eve Ballinger performed much of her Progressive Era reform under the umbrella of Galveston’s Wednesday Club and other TFWC local affiliates.
The idea for the organization that became the Daughters of the Republic of Texas was formulated by Betty Ballinger and Hally Bryan Perry in the Galveston law library of Ballinger’s father. The Victorian structure, now known as the Cradle, was restored in 1993–95 and is maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Selected Bibliography
Abbott, Shirley. Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South. New Haven: Ticknor & Fields, 1983.
Brannon-Wranosky, Jessica. "Reformers, Populists, and Progressives, 1875–1915." In Discovering Texas History, edited by Bruce Glasrud, Light Townsend Cummins, and Cary D. Wintz. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Fifty Years of Achievement: History of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Dallas: Upshaw & Co, 1942.
Heckler, Gaylon Finklea. The Daughters: A Dozen Decades of DRT. Virginia Beach: The Donning Company, 2013.
McLemore, Laura Lyons. "Gray Ghost: Creating a Collective Memory of a Confederate Texas." in Lone Star Unionism, Dissent, and Resistance, edited by Jesús F. de la Teja. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016: 15–36.
Reeves, Emma Barrett. Three Centuries of Ballingers in America. Waco: Texian Press, 1977.
Turner, Elizabeth Hayes. "Ballinger, Betty Eve." Handbook of Texas Online.
Turner, Elizabeth Hayes. Women, Culture, and Community: Religion and Reform in Galveston, 1880–1920. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Wygant, Larry J. "A Municipal Broom: The Women’s Suffrage Campaign in Galveston." Houston Review 6, no. 3 (1984): 117–134.
Spanish Translation
Download the Spanish translation of this Texas Originals script.
Portrait of Betty Eve Ballinger.
The Cradle in Galveston where Ballinger and Hally Bryan Perry formulated the idea for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.