Mary Frances Tarlton "Sissy" Farenthold was an American politician, attorney, activist, and educator.
23 Facts About Frances Farenthold
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Frances Farenthold was best known for her two campaigns for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974, and for being placed in nomination for vice president of the United States, finishing second at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.
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Frances Farenthold was elected as the first chair of the National Women's Political Caucus in 1973.
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Mary Frances Tarlton was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on October 2,1926, the daughter of Catherine and Benjamin Dudley Tarlton, Jr.
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Frances Farenthold was nicknamed "Sissy" as her slightly older brother could not yet pronounce the word sister.
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Frances Farenthold was one of only three women in a class of 800.
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Frances Farenthold started her political career in 1968, when she was elected to represent Nueces and Kleberg counties in the Texas House of Representatives.
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Frances Farenthold ran against Jack K Pedigo of Corpus Christi, Texas, graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and World War II veteran.
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Frances Farenthold was the only woman serving in the Texas House at the time.
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Frances Farenthold was the third woman whose name was put into nomination for vice president of the United States at a major party's nominating convention.
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At the Democratic National Convention in 1972, Farenthold came in second to the presidential nominee's choice, US Senator Thomas F Eagleton of Missouri.
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Frances Farenthold garnered more delegate votes than Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana, and Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia, among others.
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Frances Farenthold was defeated both times by Dolph Briscoe of Uvalde, who went on to win the general election each time.
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Frances Farenthold later served as president of Wells College in Aurora, New York, from 1976 to 1980.
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Frances Farenthold founded the Public Leadership Education Network in 1978 with key support for her vision from Ruth Mandel, who directed the Center for American Women and Politics, which is a part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and Betsey Wright, who headed the National Women's Education Fund.
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Frances Farenthold was an active member of Helsinki Watch, the predecessor to the organization Human Rights Watch and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
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Frances Farenthold left Wells College in 1980 to return to Houston, where she opened a private law practice and taught law at the University of Houston.
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Frances Farenthold continued to devote significant time to the international women's movement and began a collaboration with her cousin, Genevieve Vaughan, that would last the next decade.
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Frances Farenthold worked with the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive multi-issue think tank devoted to peace, justice, and the environment.
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Frances Farenthold was an emeritus trustee for the Institute for Policy Studies and served on the advisory board of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas.
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Frances Farenthold served as honorary director of the Rothko Chapel in Houston.
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Frances Farenthold married George Farenthold in 1950, and divorced him in 1985.
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Frances Farenthold died from complications caused by Parkinson's disease on September 26,2021, at the age of 94 at her home in Houston.