The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001 Page: 421
673 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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2001 A Wholesome Life: Ima Hogg's Vision for Mental Health Care
had been given to her father in 1891, had been an inspiration to her as
well because its precepts were decades ahead of their time. From these
travels across Texas and from her close family ties, Ima acquired an abiding
passion for the people of Texas, a strong belief in the importance of public
service, and a deep love of family life as the foundation of society, precepts
that shaped her approach to mental health care philanthropy.
An underlying tension marred Ima's youth, for the children's mother,
petite at not quite one hundred pounds, was frequently ill. Although Sallie
taught her daughter piano and the arts of stylish grooming, hospitality, and
household management, she frequented Texas spas to regain her strength
and was finally diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1895. Doctors recommended
Colorado's dry air, and Ima accompanied her mother to Pueblo for an
extended visit with Governor Hogg's widowed older sister, Martha Francis
Hogg Davis (Aunt Fannie), in the summer of 1895. Sallie's condition wors-
ened, her husband and sons were hastily summoned, and she succumbed to
the disease on September 20. Jim Hogg described his loss as the "severest
shock" of his life and turned to his thirteen-year-old daughter for compan-
ionship and to his sister for help running the household.12
Aunt Fannie's residence bore mixed results and caused Ima constant
anxiety. Ima later recalled that Aunt Fannie disliked Tom, who had just
turned eight when his mother died. Although Ima remembered Tom as
"the most outgoing sweet child," Aunt Fannie "punished him for every-
thing." Tom found school difficult and in later life could not settle suc-
cessfully in an occupation, problems his sister attributed to lack of under-
standing and helpful intervention in his youth.13 Equally devastating was
Aunt Fannie's oft-repeated but medically unfounded warning that the
children might contract tuberculosis themselves and transmit the disease
to subsequent generations.4 These fears, the unusual closeness of the
motherless children, and the former governor's overpowering presence
may have combined to delay or inhibit romantic attachment in later
" Memo to file, May 30, 1968, MAI9/U1, folder 15, HFR, book given to the foundation
December 8, 1956, gift reported in Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 9, 1956, clipping in
MAI9/U1, folder 3, HFR.
" James Stephen Hogg to Sister [probably Martha Frances Davis], Oct. 14, 1895, letter,
3B111, IHP.
" Ima Hogg to Robert Sutherland, Aug. 24, 1970, interview, Round Top, MAIg/U1, folder 3,
HFR. See also Ima Hogg to Anson Phelps Stokes, Aug. 22, 1903, letter regarding healthy
preparatory schools for her brothers, 3B131, folder 1, IHP. Letters Oct. 17, 1910 and Mar. 28,
1911, indicate Will worried about his brother's "disastrous" early business affairs. See 2J343,
folders 2, 3, Hogg [William Chfford] Papers (Center for American History, University of Texas
at Austin, Austin, Tex.). Will Hogg Papers hereafter abbreviated WHP.
'~ Ima Hogg to Kate S. Kirkland, conversations in 1974, 1975; Bernhard, Ima Hogg, 31, based
on Hogg's reminiscences. Hogg often repeated this story to explain her reasons for not marrying
although she claimed many beaux. Davis's husband had died of tuberculosis, and her son con-
tracted the disease, which was abated by his residence in Colorado.421
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001, periodical, 2001; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101221/m1/489/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.