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Ima Hogg

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Philanthropist

The Resume

    (July 10, 1882-August 19, 1975)
    Born in Mineola, Texas
    Daughter of oilman and Texas Governor 'Big Jim' Hogg
    Philanthropist, socialite, and art collector and patron
    Founded the Houston Child Guidance Center (1924)
    Elected to the Houston school board (1941)
    Served on the committee to plan the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (1960)
    Established the Ima Hogg Foundation to carry on her philanthropic work (1964)

Why she might be annoying:

    Despite what a popular legend claims, she did not have a sister named 'Ura.' (In fact, all her siblings were brothers.)
    As an adult, she deliberately signed her first name illegibly, and ordered her personal stationery embossed with 'I. Hogg' or 'Miss Hogg.'
    Just changing her first name doesn't seem to have occurred to her until a few months before her death, when she began going by 'Imogen.'
    She was hospitalized for depression for a year (1919).
    After her release, she gave up on her dreams of becoming a concert pianist.
    After the Houston Symphony Orchestra presented a special concert celebrating her 90th birthday, the featured guest musician, pianist Artur Rubinstein, called her 'a tiresome old woman.' (Then again, she called him 'a pompous old man.')

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her father had gotten the name 'Ima' from a poem about the Civil War written by his brother Thomas and did not notice the result of combining it with the family's last name.
    When the family moved into the badly dilapidated governor's mansion (1891), she and her siblings were expected to help renovate the building. One of her specific duties was scraping the old chewing gum off the furniture and door frames.
    She brought the first symphony orchestra to Houston (1913) and served twelve terms as the president of the Houston Symphony Society.
    While on the Houston school board, she campaigned to eliminate race and gender as criteria in determining teacher salaries.
    She donated an extensive collection of Native American art to Houston's Museum of Fine Art (1944).
    As an expert on American antiques, she was appointed by Jacqueline Kennedy to a committee locating historic furniture for the White House (1961).
    When John Connally was inaugurated as Governor of Texas (1963), his wife Nellie observed, 'The governor's wife is usually called the first lady of the state, but Ima always has been and always will be the First Lady of Texas.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying