About Miss Ima Hogg
Miss Ima Hogg was born in Mineola, Texas, on July 10, 1882, to Sarah Ann (Stinson) and Governor James Stephen Hogg. Miss Ima, as she was affectionately known for most of her long life, was eight years old when her father was elected governor. She lived much of her early life in Austin, but after her mother died in 1895, Miss Ima attended the Coronal Institute in San Marcos. In 1899, she entered the University of Texas.
Miss Ima was involved in a wide range of civic and philanthropic activities, including helping to found the Houston Symphony, serving twice as president of the Houston Symphony Society, establishing the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas, and serving on the Houston Independent School District school board.
Miss Ima was a noted collector of early American art and antiques, and in 1966, she gave her home, Bayou Bend, and her collection to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. In the 1950s, Miss Ima restored the Hogg family home at Varner Plantation near West Columbia. In 1958, she gave this to the state of Texas. It is now the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historical Site. Then, in the 1960s, she restored the Winedale Inn, a nineteenth-century stagecoach stop at Round Top, Texas. Miss Ima gave this to the University of Texas.
In her lifetime, Miss Ima received many awards and accolades, including an award in 1967 for ‘meritorious service in historic preservation’ from the Texas Historical Commission, and honors from the Garden Club of American in 1959, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1966, and the American Association for State and Local History in 1969. In 1968, Miss Ima was the first recipient of the Santa Rita Award, which is given by the University of Texas to recognize contributions to the university and to higher education.
Miss Ima passed away at the age of ninety-three on August 19, 1975, of complications from a traffic accident that happened while she was vacationing in England. She was buried on August 23 in the Hogg family plot in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.
(Information for this biography from The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association)