Judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes (1896-1985)

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Judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes(1896-1985)
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Timeline
She and her brother Richard grew up in a
household where emphasis was placed upon
achievement.

• Sarah T. Hughes was born in Baltimore, Maryland
  on August 2, 1896, to James Cooke and Elizabeth
  (Haughton) Tilghman. Her parents were descended
  from colonial familes that immigrated to North
  America in the 1660s.

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Timeline
Sarah attended law school at night and worked as
a police officer during the day, dealing
primarily with juveniles. In order to attend her
classes at George Washington, she had to canoe
from her tent home near the Potomac.
She attended public schools in Baltimore and in
1917 graduated from Goucher college with an A.B.
in Biology. After two years of teaching science
at Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, Sarah decided to enroll in the George
Washington University Law School.
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Timeline
On March 22, 1922, Sarah married George Ernest
Hughes, a law school classmate from Palestine,
TX. Shortly after receiving her LL.B degree
later that year, the Hughes moved to Dallas where
George began a private law practice. Sarah
practiced with George until 1923, when she joined
the firm of Priest, Herndon, and Ledbetter.
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Timeline
During the next eight years, Sarah practiced law
and took an active party in political campaigns
for the Democratic Party. She won the first of
her three terms in the Texas House in 1930. In
1933 newspaper reporters in Austin named her the
states most effective representative.
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Timeline
In 1935 Hughes accepted an appointment by
Governor James Allred as judge of the Fourteenth
District Court in Dallas, becoming the states
first woman district judge. The next year Texas
voters elected her to the position and then
re-elected her six more times, every four years
through 1960.
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Timeline
Two of Judge Hughes prevailing interests were
the rights of women to serve on juries and the
reform of the juvenile justice system.
Draft of Sarah Hughes article on juvenile
delinquency
Dallas Morning News, July 1, 1938
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Timeline
In 1946 Sarah ran unsuccessfully in the
Democratic primary for a Congressional seat. Six
years later, in 1952, she was in the political
headlines again as her name was placed in
nomination for Vice President of the United
States during the Democratic Party Convention in
Chicago.
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Timeline
While Hughes was defeated when she ran for the
Texas Supreme Court in 1958, her accomplishments
on the bench and her involvement in Democratic
part politics were rewarded in 1961 when
President Kennedy appointed her to the federal
bench. She became the first woman to serve as a
federal district judge in Texas.
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Timeline
On October 17, 1961, in a ceremony in Dallas,
Hughes took the oath of office as United States
District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.
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Timeline
Two years later a ceremony of a different nature
took place in Dallas that included Sarah Hughes
and Lyndon Johnson. One of the most tragic and
memorable days in American history, November 22,
1963, just after the assassination of President
Kennedy, Judge Hughes was called upon to render
an important service.
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Timeline
Judge Hughess accomplishments as a federal
district judges gave rise to media speculation
concerning a Supreme Court post.
Judge Sarah Hughes and Supreme Court Chief
Justice Warren Burger
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Timeline
In 1975 Judge Hughes retired from the active
federal bench, although she still served in a
very productive role as a judge with senior
status until 1982. She died on April 23, 1985 at
the age of 88, after several years of illness.
She was interred at Hillcrest Mausoleum and
Memorial Park in Dallas.
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Research Leads
Although Johnsons somber oath of office ceremony
is the most-remembered act of her life, Judge
Hughes always believed that her court decisions
and her contributions as a legislator were more
important. One of the prominent cases she heard
was Roe v. Wade. Another important case, Taylor
v. Sterrett, concerned the Dallas County Jail.
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Research Leads
Judge Hughes was supported in many of her
professional endeavors by organizations such as
the Business and Professional Womens Clubs. Her
work for the United Nations Association, the
American Association for University Women, the
State Bar of Texas, and the Hoblitzelle
Foundation is well documented.
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Research Leads
About one subject Judge Hughes was an admitted
fanatic when she spoke at club meetings. That
subject was the role of women in public life.
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Research Material
North Texas State University President John J.
Kamerick presents to Judge Sarah T. Hughes a copy
of her oral history interview.
The Judge Sarah T. Hughes collection, housed in
the University of North Texas Archives, consists
on 90 boxes (36 linear feet) of correspondence,
legal documents, financial documents, printed
material, literary productions, scrapbooks, and
photographs.
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Research Contacts
Professor Gene Shreve, Indiana University School
of Law (Bloomington), law clerk to Judge Sarah
Hughes, 1969-1970.
United States Congressman Martin Frost, law clerk
to Judge Sarah Hughes, 1970-1971.