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Judge Sarah T. Hughes Collection
Judge Sarah T. Hughes
1896-1985
Sarah Tilghman
Sarah T. Hughes, daughter of James and Elizabeth Haughton Tilghman, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 2, 1896. Sarah and Her brother Richard grew up in a modest household where the empahis was placed on achievement.
Sarah and Richard Tilghman
"I went to a girls' high school and a girls' college, Goucher College, in Baltimore. And after I graduated from college,about the only thing a girl could do at that time was to teach school"
Sarah as a student.
After two years of teaching science at Winston Salem Academy in North Carolina, Sarah turned to the study of law. In 1919 she moved to Washington, D. C., attending George Washington University at night, and working as a police officer during the day. In order to attend her classes at George Washington, Sarah had to canoe from her tent home near the Potomac, as a number of students did at that time.
Sarah's tent home near the Potomac.
In 1922 Sarah came to Dallas, Texas with her husband, George Hughes, a Texan she had met in law school. During the next eight years, she practiced law and took an active part in political campaigns for the Democratic Party. She won the first of her three terms in the Texas House in 1930.
Card used during Sarah's campaign for the Texas Legislature.
"In my opinion my service in the legislature was the most educational thing that I have ever done. And I think that there is greater opportunity in the legislature to serve the people of Texas than in any other public office."
Sarah Hughes's certificate of election.
Although she enjoyed her legislative work, in 1935 Hughes accepted an appointment by Governor James Allred as judge of the Fourteenth District Court in Dallas. Thus, she became the state's 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. Two of her prevailing interests were the rights of women to serve on juries and the reform of the juvenile justice system.
"I began crusading for women on the jury when I was a member of the legislature and was coauthor of a constitutional amendment which would have given them that right."
Even though her duties as a judge and effective member of many organizations kept Judge Hughes extremely busy, she found time to satisfy her interest in politics. In 1946 she ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for a Congressional seat. Six years later she was in the political headlines once again as her name was placed in nomination for Vice President of the United States during the Democratic Party convention in Chicago.
Entry card for the 1952 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
"The thing that I got the most fun out of was running for Vice President of the United States. I knew I had absolutely no chance, but it was doing something which I would like to see more women do."
Texas federal judge appointees visit Washington in 1961.
Judge Hughes's accomplishments on the bench and her involvement in Democratic party 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.
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.
Ceremony swearing in Sarah T. Hughes as an United States District Judge.
"We had quite a ceremony. Senator Yarborough was there and Vice President Johnson, and a representative of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs, president of the Texas Bar, and president of the Dallas Bar--all were represented and spoke."
Two years later a ceremony of a different nature took place in Dallas that included Sarah Hughes and Lyndon Johnson. On 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.
Judge Hughes gives the presidential oath of office to Lyndon Baines Johnson aboard Air Force One, November 22, 1963.
"I embraced Mrs. Johnson and the Vice-President. We didn't say anything. There really wasn't anything to say. He did make the statement, 'We'll wait for Mrs. Kennedy. She wants to be here.' When she came in, he told her to stand on his left, and Mrs. Johnson stood on his right. I stood immediately in front of him and repeated the oath and he repeated it after me with one hand on the book and the other raised. I thought she [Mrs. Kennedy] showed remarkable poise. She didn't weep. She didn't say a word. Her poise was outstanding. Her courage was outstanding."
Although this somber ceremony is the most-remembered act of her life, Judge Hughes always believed that her court decisions and her contributions as a Texas 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.
Taylor v. Sterrett case document
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, that case is the most important case I have tried. I found that the Dallas County Jail was very much in need of change. It was in deplorable condition, and I think, that under my jurisdiction, it became one of the best jails in the whole United States."
Judge Hughes's accomplishments as a federal district judge gave rise to media speculation concerning a Supreme Court post.
Judge Sarah T. Hughes and Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger
"I'm sure that if I had ever had the opportunity, when I was young, to serve on the Supreme Court, that I would have accepted with alacrity. But I am sure, also, that I make a better district judge than I would have made a Supreme Court judge."
Sarah T. Hughes was a national president of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs
Judge Hughes was supported in many of her professional efforts by organizations such as the Business and Professional Women's Clubs. Her work for the United Nations Association, the American Association for University Women, the State Bar of Texas, and Hoblitzelle Foundation is well documented.
Judge Hughes was a founding member of Hoblitzelle Foundation.
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.
"I have long advocated women's greater participation in politics and having them stand for office and trying to get them appointed to office. There's not nearly enough participation by women in government or in business for that matter."
Portrait of Judge Sarah T. Hughes by Dorothy Barta, ASOPA, after a photograph by Squire Haskins
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 in 1985 at the age of 88, after several years of illness. Judge Hughes often remarked upon a formula she used to live her life. "Pick out your goal, and then use determination and courage to reach it." As Sarah Tilghman Hughes believed, she lived. Her goal was service to the community; her determination and courage were exemplary.