Women History Maker – Mollie Taylor Stevenson Jr.

As we all know, March is National Women’s History Month and, in Houston, we are putting on our cowgirl boots to head on over to the Reliant Stadium for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show through the end of the month.     So, with both women history and rodeo in mind, I decided to share with you a history maker right here in my hometown – Houston.    This woman has made a mark in Women’s History and in African-American History as being one of three African-American women inducted into The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.   At the time of her induction, Mollie had the honor of her mother, Mollie Taylor Stevenson Sr. being inducted at the same time.    Before her mother’s death in 2003, Mollie and her mother were the only living African-American members of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

(http://www.cowgirl.net/HallofFameHonorees/Stevenson,Mollie.Jr.html)

(http://www.cowgirl.net/HallofFameHonorees/Stevenson,Mollie.html)

Mollie is well-known in the Houston community as a world-famous cowgirl, historian, and rancher of her family-owned ranch which is one of the oldest African-American owned working ranches in the United States.   The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch has existed for 150 years and is still home to Mollie and some of her siblings.   In 1988, Mollie and her mother established The American Cowboy Museum to educate the young and the old about the contributions of “people of color” to the taming of the West.

Please read more about this female maverick at (http://www.cowboysofcolor.org/profile.php?ID=95)

and her trail-blazing family history at

(http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/native-texan/article/Historic-ranch-lies-in-Houston-s-shadow-4638390.php)

and

(http://capitolwords.org/date/2002/03/14/E365-2_honoring-mollie-taylor-stevenson-sr-and-mollie-tay/)

I have not visited The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch yet but it is now on my day-trip list and I will “round-up” some of my girlfriends to join me.

In gathering information for this blog post, I read several inspiring information about other inductees in the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.   They even have honored Sacagawea who assisted Lewis and Clark!     It is worth a visit so check it out at (http://www.cowgirl.net/AllHonorees.html).

On my next visit to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I will certainly drop by for a visit!