Ima Hogg (July 10, 1882 – August 19, 1975), known as "The First Lady of Texas", was an American society leader, philanthropist, mental health advocate, patron and collector of the arts, and one of the most respected women in Texas during the 20th century. Hogg was an avid art collector, and owned works by Picasso, Klee, and Matisse, among others. Hogg donated hundreds of pieces of artwork to Houston's Museum of Fine Arts and served on a committee to plan the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. An enthusiastic collector of early American antiques, she also served on a committee tasked with locating historical furniture for the White House. She restored and refurbished several properties, including the Varner plantation and Bayou Bend, which she later donated to Texas arts and historical institutions who maintain the facilities and their collections today. Hogg received numerous awards and honors, including the Louise E. du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Santa Rita Award from the University of Texas System, and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Southwestern University.
Hogg was the daughter of Sarah Ann "Sallie" Stinson and James Stephen "Big Jim" Hogg, later attorney general and governor of the state. Ima Hogg's first name was taken from The Fate of Marvin, an epic poem written by her uncle Thomas Hogg. She endeavored to downplay her unusual name by signing her first name illegibly and having her stationery printed with "I. Hogg" or "Miss Hogg". Although it was jokingly suggested that Hogg had a sister or sisters, whose names were suggested to be "Hoosa Hogg", "Ura Hogg" or "Wera Hogg", she had only brothers. Hogg's father left public office in 1895, and soon after, her mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis. When Sarah died later that year, Jim Hogg's widowed elder sister moved to Austin to care for the Hogg children. Between 1899 and 1901, Hogg attended the University of Texas at Austin; she then moved to New York City to study piano and music theory for two years. After her father's death in 1906, she traveled to Europe and spent two years studying music under Xaver Scharwenka in Vienna. When she returned to Texas, she established and managed the Houston Symphony Orchestra and served as president of the Symphony Society.
The discovery of oil on her family's cotton plantation made Hogg very wealthy, and she used this income to benefit the people of Texas. In 1929, she founded the Houston Child Guidance Center, which provided counseling for children with mental health problems or diagnoses and their families. Through her brother's will, she established the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin in 1940. Hogg successfully ran for a seat on the Houston School Board in 1943, where she worked to remove gender and race as criteria for determining pay and established art education programs for black students. Hogg never married, and died in 1975. The Ima Hogg Foundation was the major beneficiary of her will, and carries on her philanthropic work today. Several annual awards have been established in her name, honoring her efforts to preserve cultural heritage in Texas.
After the birth of his only daughter, Jim Hogg wrote to his brother, "Our cup of joy is now overflowing! We have a daughter of as fine proportions and of as angelic mien as ever gracious nature favor a man with, and her name is Ima!" Ima Hogg had no middle name, which was unusual for the time. Her first name was taken from her uncle Thomas Hogg's epic Civil War poem The Fate of Marvin, which featured two young women named Ima and Leila. According to Virginia Bernhard's biography of Ima Hogg, "there are some who believe that James Stephen Hogg … named his only daughter Ima Hogg to attract the attention of Texas voters" in a year when he was running in a close race for district attorney of the Seventh District in Texas, which he won. Alternatively, correspondence from Jim Hogg indicates he may not have been conscious of the combined effect of his daughter's first and last names.
Ima Hogg later recounted that "my grandfather Stinson lived fifteen miles [24 km] from Mineola and news traveled slowly. When he learned of his granddaughter's name he came trotting to town as fast as he could to protest but it was too late. The christening had taken place, and Ima I was to remain." During her childhood, Hogg's elder brother William often came home from school with a bloody nose, the result of defending, as she later recalled, "my good name." Throughout her adult years, Hogg signed her name in a scrawl that left her first name illegible. Her personal stationery was usually printed "Miss Hogg" or "I. Hogg", and she often had her stationery order placed in her secretary's name to avoid questions. Hogg did not use a nickname until several months before her death when she began calling herself "Imogene." Her last passport was issued to "Ima Imogene Hogg."
Contrary to popular belief, Ima did not have a sister named Ura. Texas legend insists that when Jim Hogg ran for re-election as Texas governor in 1892 he often travelled with Ima and a friend of hers and introduced them as his daughters Ima and Ura. Ima Hogg maintained throughout her life that this never happened. She was frequently forced to dispel the myth; hundreds of people wrote her letters inquiring whether her name was real and if she really had a sister named Ura. The Kansas City Star even invented another sister, Hoosa.
In the early 1930s, Hogg worked on a collection of her father's papers and speeches with his biographer, historian Robert C. Cotner; she became a guardian of his place in history, often writing to clarify or refute articles published about her father. According to Bernhard, "the very fact that Ima had been burdened with a name that made a lifetime of explanations necessary also made her anxious to defend her father from all detractors. By doing so, she defended herself as well, and she did so with considerable skill and unfailing politeness."
Ima Hogg has been the source of "unfortunate name" or "worst baby name" jokes, lists, and contests, including the incorrect assertion that Jim Hogg had named his two daughters "Ima Hogg" and "Ura Hogg." Similar unfortunate baby names according to United States Census records include Ima Pigg, Ima Muskrat, Ima Nut, Ima Hooker, Ima Weiner, Ima Reck, Ima Pain, and Ima Butt.
Ima Hogg was born in Mineola, Texas, in 1882 to Jim Hogg and Sarah Ann "Sallie" Stinson. She was the second of four children, including brothers William Clifford Hogg (1875–1930), Michael Hogg (1885–1941), and Thomas Elisha Hogg (1887–1949). The Hogg family had long been active in public service. Her great-grandfather, Thomas Hogg, served in the state legislatures of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Her grandfather, Joseph Lewis Hogg, served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas and helped to write the Texas State Constitution. At the time of her birth, Hogg's father was the district attorney of the Seventh District in Texas. His term expired in 1884, and the family moved to Tyler, where he practiced law. Two years later, Jim Hogg was elected Texas Attorney General and the Hogg family moved to the state capital, Austin, where Ima attended kindergarten. When Jim Hogg was elected the first native-born Governor of Texas four years later, Ima accompanied her mother and elder brother to the swearing-in ceremony and inauguration ball in January 1891, thus witnessing the first inauguration in the newly erected Texas State Capitol. The family moved into the Governor's Mansion. Built in 1855, the building was in poor condition, with cracked walls and dilapidated furnishings. Ima and her siblings were expected to help renovate the building to a liveable state—she was required, among other things, to pry chewing gum from the furniture and door moldings.
Hogg and her younger brothers were rambunctious. She recalled that they particularly enjoyed sliding down the banisters in the Governor's Mansion. Hogg's parents allowed this to continue until Thomas cut his chin, after which Jim Hogg nailed tacks along the center of the railing to curb the activity through fear of bloodied posteriors; the holes from the tacks remained visible in the banister for many decades after the Hogg family moved from the home. Hogg's mother attempted to teach her ladylike skills such as needlework, but Hogg claimed that she "never had the patience to succeed". Her mother also encouraged Hogg to learn German. Hogg and her siblings were frequently taken to the Millett Opera House in Austin to enjoy the performances.