Annie Webb Blanton (1870 – 1945)

Annie Webb Blanton was the first woman in Texas to win a statewide elective office when she became state superintendent of public instruction in 1918. Blanton was an associate professor of English at North Texas State Normal College in Denton from 1901 until 1918. She was elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association in 1916, the first woman to hold that post. As state superintendent of schools for four years, she brought about better teacher certification laws, improved rural schools, and increased school funding and equality for women teachers. She later served on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin for 22 years.