Hughes, Sarah Tilghman, 1896-1985

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Sarah T. Hughes, jurist, politician, and feminist, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 2, 1896, daughter of James Cooke and Elizabeth (Haughton) Tilghman. Her parents were descended from colonial families that immigrated to North America in the 1660s. She attended public schools in Baltimore and in 1917 graduated from Goucher College with an A.B. in biology. After two years of teaching science at Salem Academy, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she enrolled in the George Washington University Law School, from which she received an LL.B. degree in 1922. During this period she was a member of the Washington, D.C., police force, a job in which she worked primarily with juveniles. She married George Ernest Hughes of Palestine, Texas, a classmate, on March 13, 1922. The same year, the Hugheses moved to Dallas, where her husband began a private law practice. In 1923 Mrs. Hughes joined the firm of Priest, Herndon, and Ledbetter. She remained with the firm until 1935, when Governor James Allred appointed her to the bench of the Fourteenth District Court in Dallas. She was the first woman state district judge in Texas. In 1936 she was elected in her own right and was reelected on six subsequent occasions, the last in 1960.

Before her appointment as district judge, Sarah Hughes had served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. She was among the first women elected to the legislature after the granting of woman suffrage and was active in debates over major issues of the day-oil proration laws, penal-system reform, and public school land usage. In 1933 newspaper reporters in Austin named her the state's most effective representative. In 1946 she was beaten in the Democratic primary when she ran for the United States Congress. She claimed her liberal views caused her defeat. In 1952 she received a token nomination for the vice presidency of the United States at the Democratic national convention but withdrew her name before the vote was taken. At the time, she was national president of the Business and Professional Women's Club. She was also defeated when she ran for the Texas Supreme Court in 1958. In 1961 she asked Senator Ralph Yarborough and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to recommend her for the federal judgeship of the northern district of Texas. Her age, sixty-five, caused the American Bar Association and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to oppose her selection. At her request, the Business and Professional Women's Club undertook a letter-writing campaign in support of her candidacy, and Yarborough, Johnson, and Speaker of the House Samuel T. Rayburn lobbied effectively on her behalf. When President John F. Kennedy appointed her in October 1961, she became the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in Texas.

Judge Hughes was known for her speedy and impartial administration of justice. While serving the Fourteenth Judicial District of Texas she played an important part in the construction of Dallas's first juvenile detention center (1950) and in securing an amendment to the Texas constitution allowing women to serve as jurors (1953). Among her most well-known decisions as a federal judge were Roe v. Wade, 1970 (the legalization of abortion in the United States), Shultz v. Brookhaven General Hospital, 1969 (equal pay for equal work for women), and Taylor v. Sterrett, 1972 (upgrading prisoner treatment in the Dallas County jail). She was also involved with several cases related to Billie Sol Estes and to the Sharpstown stock fraud scandal.

She became a national figure as a result of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, after which she administered the oath of office to Lyndon Johnson aboard Air Force One at Love Field. She said she liked to believe that President Johnson chose her for the honor because of their friendship but was realistic enough to know that his feelings towards other federal judges in Dallas made her the most acceptable choice.

Judge Hughes and her husband were Episcopalians. He died on June 1, 1964, after many years (1928–62) as an attorney for the United States Veterans Administration in Dallas. They had no children. After several years of illness, Judge Hughes died on April 23, 1985. She was interred at Hillcrest Mausoleum and Memorial Park in Dallas.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn R. C. Hickman Photographic Archive 85-43, 90-135, 85-152, 85-260, 86-301, 87-214, 88-164, 94-120., 1945-1970 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
creatorOf Hughes, Sarah T. (Sarah Tilghman), 1896-1985. Oral history interview with Sarah T. Hughes, 1969 January 15, February 7 and 28, March 21, April 11, and May 16 and 27. University of North Texas Library, UNT
referencedIn Audiotape collection of the National Women's Conference, 1977 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Bertha S. Adkins Papers. 1928 - 1983. Personal Files, 1928 - 1983 Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
referencedIn Records, 1967-1990 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Stellanova Osborn papers, 1907-1988 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Somerville and Howorth family papers, 1850-1974 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Somerville and Howorth family papers, 1850-1974 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Papers, 1870s-1989 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Records of the Women's Equity Action League, 1966-1979 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961, Papers, 1822, 1831, 1845, 1903-2007 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
contributorOf Statement Files, January 1974–January 1974 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
referencedIn Margaret Brand Smith. Texas Woman's University Library, Mary Evelyn Blagg-Huey Library
referencedIn Seals, Woodrow, 1917-1990. Judge Woodrow Seals Papers, 1941-1990 [Part 2] Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Libary
creatorOf Judge Sarah T. Hughes Papers, 1910-1982 University of North Texas Library, UNT
referencedIn Hanna, Sam Scrapbook 66-75., 1932-1951 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Sarah T. Hughes. Texas Woman's University Library, Mary Evelyn Blagg-Huey Library
referencedIn Biography -- Hughes, Sarah. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
referencedIn R. C. Hickman Photographic Archive 85-43, 90-135, 85-152, 85-260, 86-301, 87-214, 88-164, 94-120., 1945-1970 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Johnson White House Photographs, November 22, 1963–January 20, 1969 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
creatorOf Stellanova Osborn papers, 1907-1988 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Learned Hand papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Seals, Woodrow, 1917-1990. Judge Woodrow Seals Papers, 1941-1990 [Part 1] Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Libary
referencedIn Anderson County, Texas, Photograph Collection, SWCPC 336 E1., 1905-1918 Southwest Collection/Special Collections Libary, Texas Tech University
referencedIn Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-. Papers, 1870s-1989 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Oral history interview with Sarah T. Hughes, 1979 August 23 University of North Texas Library, UNT
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Gantt, Fred. person
associatedWith Hand, Learned, 1872-1961 person
associatedWith Hanna, Sam person
associatedWith Hickman, R. C., 1922- person
associatedWith Hickman, R. C., 1922- person
associatedWith Hughes family family
associatedWith Hughes, George Ernest, 1892-1964. person
associatedWith International Federation of Business and Professional Women. corporateBody
associatedWith Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 person
associatedWith Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 person
associatedWith Marcello, Ronald E. person
associatedWith Marguerite Rawalt, 1895- person
associatedWith National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. corporateBody
associatedWith National Women's Conference corporateBody
associatedWith North Texas State University. Oral History Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith North Texas State University. Oral History Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Osborn, Stellanova, 1894-1988. person
associatedWith Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895- person
associatedWith Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961 person
associatedWith Seals, Woodrow Bradley person
associatedWith Seals, Woodrow Bradley person
associatedWith SOMERVILLE-HOWORTH FAMILY family
associatedWith Somerville, Nellie Nugent, 1863-1952. person
associatedWith Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. corporateBody
associatedWith Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. corporateBody
associatedWith Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. corporateBody
associatedWith Texas Political History Oral History Project. corporateBody
associatedWith Texas Political History Oral History Project. corporateBody
associatedWith Thomas, Erna Mae person
associatedWith United Nations. corporateBody
correspondedWith Women's Equity Action League corporateBody
correspondedWith Women's Equity Action League corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Dallas TX US
Texas TX US
Baltimore MD US
Subject
Political campaigns
Jails
Jails
Judges
Juvenile delinquency
Legislators
Prisoners
Prison reformers
School integration
Women
Women
Women judges
Women politicians
Occupation
Judges
Activity

Person

Birth 1896-08-02

Death 1985-04-23

Information

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