Oral history interview with Frances Farenthold, December 14, 1974
Subtitle: interview A-0186, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: De Vries, Walter, interviewer; Bass, Jack, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Women politicians; Women; Political activity; Politics and government; Race relations
Other titles: Interview A-0186, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Frances Farenthold, December 14, 1974; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Frances Farenthold served two terms in the Texas state legislature. First elected in 1968 and then elected again in 1972, Farenthold offers an "insider" perspective on Texas politics during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In this interview, Farenthold describes the "reform session" of the Texas legislature during her second term in 1973 and explains the need for reform in Texas politics. In particular, Farenthold advocates for the benefits of single member districts and procedure reform. In addition, Farenthold offers her assessment of Texas politicians such as Governor Dolph Briscoe and Lloyd Bentsen. Farenthold also discusses changes in Texas politics more broadly, focusing on the years between 1948 and 1974 (the year of the interview). According to Farenthold, little had changed in state politics aside from decreasing tolerance for overt racism. Farenthold also speaks at length about the role of women in Texas politics, drawing comparisons to other Southern states. Other topics addressed regarding Texas politics include the rural-urban split, the frontier tradition, the impact of suburbanization, and the role of various minority groups such as Chicanos, African Americans, and Jews, and the concept of "Texas liberals."
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on April 8, 2008).

Interview participants: Frances Farenthold, interviewee; Jack Bass, interviewer; Walter DeVries, interviewer.

Duration: 01:27:39.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 89.6 kilobytes, 160.5 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series A, Southern politics, interview A-0186, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Joe Jaros. Original transcript: 36 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.