A question often asked is, “Who was Hortense Sparks Malsch Ward?” Let me tell you her story. Here stands a plaque honoring Hortense Sparks Malsch Ward. She was a true pioneer for women’s rights. Ward was a suffrage leader and a champion for equality. She even became the first female Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Hortense Ward was born in Matagorda County in 1872. As a child, she lived in Edna. Later, she attended Nazareth Academy in Victoria. In 1890, she went back to Edna to teach. She married Albert Malsch in 1891. They had three daughters together. In 1903, the family moved to Houston.
While working as a stenographer and court reporter, Ward became interested in law. She divorced Malsch in 1906. Then she married Houston attorney William Henry Ward in 1909.
In 1910, Hortense Ward passed the bar exam. She became one of the first women admitted to the Texas State Bar. She received her law license on August 30 1910. Ward then began practicing with her husband in the firm of Ward and Ward. Though some say she didn’t appear in court she did argue cases. One case was in the Seventeenth District Court in Fort Worth in 1915. She focused mainly on writing briefs and consultations.
In 1915, Hortense Ward and her husband were admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. She was the first woman from Texas and possibly the South to achieve this.
Hortense Ward was a champion of women’s rights. She wrote articles and pamphlets. She also personally lobbied for social reform. She helped pass the Married Woman’s Property Law of 1913. Ward campaigned for a shorter workweek for women in industry. She advocated for a women’s division in the state labor department. She also wanted a domestic relations court. She fought for women’s right to serve as officers of corporations.
In 1915, she became the first southern lawyer in the Women Lawyers Association. She was elected vice president and associate editor of Women Lawyers’ Journal soon after. Ward was an ardent prohibitionist. She coauthored the state prohibition constitutional amendment in 1919.
Ward helped Minnie Fisher Cunningham campaign for woman suffrage. She led a lobbying campaign for the federal woman suffrage amendment in 1917. As president of the Houston Equal Suffrage Association in 1918, she lobbied for a bill allowing women to vote in state primary elections. Her articles and pamphlets helped nearly 386000 women register to vote in just seventeen days. On June 27, 1918, Hortense Ward became the first woman in Harris County to register to vote. That year, she also became the first woman appointed as secretary of the Texas Industrial Accident Board.
Ward remained active in politics. She led the Houston women’s organization for William P. Hobby. She supported Miriam Amanda Ferguson for governor in 1924. Representing Ferguson, Ward campaigned against the Ku Klux Klan candidate in Maine.
In 1925, Governor Pat Neff appointed Hortense Ward as chief justice of the All-Woman Supreme Court. This court heard the case of Johnson v. Darr. The male justices had disqualified themselves. The case involved a lien on land belonging to the Woodmen of the World. Ward and two other women served as justices. They affirmed the ruling of the lower court.
Hortense Ward was vice president of the Woman Lawyers’ Association. She was a charter member of the Houston Heights Woman’s Club. She was also active in other organizations. Ward practiced law until her husband’s death in 1939. She passed away on December 5, 1944, in Houston. Ward was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.
Hortense Sparks Malsch Ward’s legacy continues to inspire. She paved the way for women in law and politics. This plaque stands as a reminder of her remarkable achievements.