Name/Title
Painting, "Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose"Context
If you've spent any time in Texas you know that the bluebonnet is our beloved official state flower. Look closely and you can already see bluebonnets beginning to bloom in fields and along roadways.
What most folks don’t know is that the bluebonnet was not the state's first choice for official flower. At the Texas legislative session of 1901 there were three nominations: from West Texas, the prickly pear cactus; from East Texas, the cotton boll; and the bluebonnet.
It was a group of impassioned women, the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Texas (NSCDA-TX), acting years before women’s suffrage, who successfully lobbied the legislature in favor of the bluebonnet on the day of the vote. On March 7th, 1901, the NSCDA-TX delivered mason jars of bluebonnets to each legislator's office and displayed Mode Walker’s, “Bluebonnets with Evening Primrose” on the chamber floor. These efforts were success and the bluebonnet became the unanimous choice.
“Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose”(1900), pictured here, hangs in the lobby of the Neill-Cochran House Museum today. You can see the artwork that inspired Texas to make the right choice 121 years ago, at the Neill-Cochran House Museum, Wed-Sun, 11-4pm.Acquisition
Accession
nd.015Source or Donor
Mr. and Mrs. Pierre BremondAcquisition Method
Gift