Sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas, Bluebonnet Girls State aims to educate high-school age girls in the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. In annual weeklong sessions, participants, or “citizens,” organize their own city, county, and state governments, conducting elections, introducing and debating bills in a mock legislature, and learning the duties of government offices. Two girls are selected annually to attend Girls Nation in Washington, D. C.
Although the American Legion Auxiliary instituted Girls State in 1937, the Texas program started three years later with the first and second Bluebonnet Girls States held at Baylor University in 1941 and 1942, respectively. Meetings were suspended during World War II, recommencing in 1946. One of the most influential figures in Bluebonnet Girls State history was Frances Goff, who began working with the program in 1947 and served as Director from 1952 until her death in 1994. That year, Connie Bridges, a former Girls State citizen and 1974 Girls State governor, became Executive Director.
From the guide to the Texas Bluebonnet Girls State Records AR 95-097; 95-172; 96-373; 97-214; 98-229; 2008-184; 2009-182; 2012-001., 1942-2010, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
