Considered the Mother of the Texas Equal Rights Amendment, Hermine Dalkowitz Tobolowsky successfully coordinated the Equal Legal Rights Amendment passage to the Texas Constitution in 1972. She was born on January 13, 1921 in San Antonio, Texas, and attended Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, the University of San Antonio (now Trinity University) and later obtained her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. After facing blatant discrimination, she opened a private law practice in San Antonio.
She met and married Hyman Tobolowsky, a Dallas retail executive (d. 1968) in 1951, moved to Dallas and re-established her practice. They had no children. In 1957, she became the leader of statewide campaign for equal legal rights for men and women, finally obtaining passage of the Texas Equal Legal Rights Amendment 15 years later in 1972. She remained active in the Women's Rights Movement, working towards the passage of the ERA, presenting speeches and workshops on women's issues, and serving as a legal advisor for numerous women's organizations up to the time of her death on July 25, 1995.
From the guide to the Hermine Tobolowsky Papers, S 1256. 1., 1932-1995 and undated, (Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University)
