Bell County Museum Opens Exhibit Featuring Ma & Pa Ferguson

 

Meet the Fergusons: Two Governors for the Price of One will be on view at the Bell County Museum until March 13, 2010.

 

The Bell County Museum is home to the largest public collection of Ferguson material, donated by the Ferguson family in 1991. Included in it is First Lady Miriam Ferguson’s inaugural ball gown, worn at her husband’s first inauguration in 1915.

 

The Fergusons were very colorful and controversial charcters in Texas history. Mrs. Ferguson (1875-1961), a Bell County native, was the first woman to be elected governor in Texas. She served two terms as governor of Texas, 1925-1926 and 1933-1934. Her husband, James E. Ferguson (1871-1944), was also a Bell County native and served as governor of Texas from 1915-1917.