Sarah T. Hughes
Sarah Hughes | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas | |
In office August 4, 1975 – April 23, 1985 | |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas | |
In office October 5, 1961 – August 4, 1975 | |
Appointed by | John F. Kennedy |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Succeeded by | Patrick Higginbotham |
Personal details | |
Born | Sarah Augusta Tilghman August 2, 1896 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
Died | April 23, 1985 Dallas, Texas, U.S. | (aged 88)
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Goucher College (BA) George Washington University (LLB) |
Sarah Tilghman Hughes (August 2, 1896 – April 23, 1985) was an American
Education and career
Born Sarah Augusta Tilghman in
After graduating from college, Hughes taught science at
In 1922, she moved to
Federal judicial service
Hughes received a recess appointment from President John F. Kennedy on October 5, 1961, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, to a new seat authorized by 75 Stat. 80. She was nominated to the same position by President Kennedy on January 15, 1962. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1962, and received her commission on March 17, 1962. She was the only female judge appointed by President Kennedy, the first female federal judge in Texas and the third female to serve in the federal judiciary. She assumed senior status on August 4, 1975. Her service terminated on April 23, 1985, due to her death.[6]
Circumstances of appointment
The appointment almost did not happen, according to the historian
Women on juries
Hughes was concerned over the ineligibility of women in Texas to serve on juries even though they had the right to vote. She and Helen Edmunds Moore coauthored[when?] a proposed amendment that would allow women on juries in Texas, but the bill failed and went nowhere. Despite defeat, Hughes became closely identified with this cause and few people were recognized as working harder for this right. Due in to part to Hughes's work, Texas women secured the right to serve on juries in 1954.[9][10]
Administering the oath of office
Two years into her tenure as a federal district judge, on November 22, 1963, Hughes was called upon to administer the
LBJ called
Irving Goldberg from the plane and asked, 'Who can swear me in?' Goldberg called me, and I said, 'Well, we know a federal judge can.' Then I got a call from the President's plane, with the command 'Find Sarah Hughes.' Coincidentally, Judge Hughes, Jan [Sanders' wife] and I [Sanders] were supposed to go to Austin that night for a dinner for President Kennedy. I reached her at home and said, 'They need you to swear in the Vice President at Love Field. Please get out there.'She said, 'Is there an oath?'
I said, 'Yes, but we haven't found it yet.'
She said, 'Don't worry about it; I'll make one up.'
She was very resourceful, you know. By the time she got to the airplane, someone had already called it into the plane. We quickly realized that it is in the
Constitution[Art. II, Sec. 1, cl. 8].
Hughes believed that President Johnson chose her to administer the oath of office due to their friendship,[
Other significant contributions
Throughout her lifetime, Sarah Hughes was known for her speedy and impartial administration. In 1950, she assisted in establishing Dallas's first juvenile detention center.[citation needed]
Hughes was involved in multiple court decisions, including Roe v. Wade, Shultz v. Brookhaven General Hospital, and Taylor v. Sterrett. Hughes was a member of the three-judge panel that first heard the case of Roe v. Wade; the panel's decision was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. In Taylor v. Sterrett, she argued to upgrade prisoner treatment in the Dallas County jail. Hughes noted that "the Dallas County Jail was very much in need of change. It was in deplorable condition, and [she] think[s], that under [her] jurisdiction, it became one of the best jails in the whole United States."[15]
Later years and death
Hughes retired from the active federal bench in 1975, though she continued to work as a judge with senior status until 1982. A close friend of Lyndon Johnson and his family, Hughes participated in his inauguration in 1965, took part in the book signing of Lady Bird Johnson's White House memoirs, and participated in the dedication of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. The dress Hughes wore during the swearing in on Air Force One was donated to a wax museum in Grand Prairie, Texas, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1988.[16] In 1982, Hughes suffered a debilitating stroke which confined her to a nursing home in Dallas. She died three years later on April 23, 1985.[17]
The Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Hughes' alma mater, Goucher College, founded in the 1950s with a grant from the Maurice and Laura Falk Foundation, is named in her honor.[18] The special collections reading room of the University of North Texas Libraries is also named in her honor.[19]
Bibliography
- La Forte, Robert S. "Hughes, Sarah Tilghman." Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed December 1, 2013.
- La Forte, Robert S. and Richard Himmel. "Sarah T. Hughes, John F. Kennedy, and the Johnson Inaugural, 1963." East Texas Historical Journal 27, no. 2 (1989): 35–41.
- Payne, Darwin. Indomitable Sarah: The Life of Judge Sarah T. Hughes. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2004.
- Riddlesperger, James W. "Sarah T. Hughes." Master's thesis, North Texas State University, 1980.
See also
References
- ISBN 0698109309.
- ISBN 1401300049.
- ^ a b "Judge Sarah T. Hughes Collection — University of North Texas Libraries". Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- ^ Bowman, Cynthia Grant (2009). "Women in the Legal Profession from the 1920s to the 1970s". Cornell Law Faculty Publications. Archived from the original on 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ "Texas Legislators Past and Present-Sarah Hughes". Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
- ^ Clark, Mary (2002). "Carter's Groundbreaking Appointment of Women to the Federal Bench: His Other "Human Rights" Record" (PDF). AALS. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2013. "Today, women comprise 26.3% of the judgeships on state courts of last resort, 19.2% of federal district court judgeships, 20.1% of federal appellate judgeships, and 33.3% of the U.S. Supreme Court." Women in the United States judiciary.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-679-40507-8.
- ^ a b Gillon, Steven (2009). ""I Do Solemly Swear". The Kennedy Assassination - 24 Hours Later. New York City: Basic Books.
- ^ "Biographies: Women in Texas History". womenintexashistory.com. 2007. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ^ From Gutsy Mavericks to Quiet Heroes: True Tales of Texas Women. Dallas, Texas: Foundation for Women's Resources. 1997.
- ^ "vd_2002_fall_Barefoot%20Sanders(1)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ a b Holland, Max (2004). The Kennedy Assassination Tapes. New York: Knopf. p. 24.
- ISBN 978-0-679-40507-8.
- ISBN 978-0-679-40507-8.
- ^ "INSIDE THE DALLAS COUNTY JAIL". D Magazine. July 1977. Archived from the original on 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ "Irreplaceable items lost in museum fire". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. Seguin, Texas. AP. September 11, 1988. p. 3. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- from the original on 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ^ "The Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center | Goucher College". Goucher College. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ "Special Collections: Research - University Libraries - UNT". Archived from the original on 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
External links
- Sarah Tilghman Hughes at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- More photos of the taking of the oath
- The Sarah T. Hughes Center for Field Politics at Goucher College
- Sarah T. Hughes Archive at University of North Texas
- Indomitable Sarah: The Life of Judge Sarah T. Hughes by Darwin Payne (Texas A&M University Press)
- Sarah T. Hughes at Find a Grave
- Oral History Interview with Sarah T. Hughes, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
- Women in Texas History
- Description of Judge Hughes