Fort Worth Isn't Just "Cowtown," It's Home To A Cowgirl Museum

DALLAS, TX—What do Annie Oakley and Roy Rogers' TV galpal Dale Evans have in common with painter Georgia O'Keeffe, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Lewis and Clark's Native American guide Sacagawea?

They're all enshrined at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the only museum in the world dedicated to telling stories about the cowgirls of yore and today.

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors and celebrates women whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience and independence that helped shape the West and fosters an appreciation of the ideals and spirit of self-reliance they inspire. The museum celebrates those honorees, living and passed, who represent diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures.

Want to be the first to know about Patch membership when it launches? Click here to find out how you can support Patch and local journalism.

Not many know that the name "cowboy" actually derives from a term more than a century old that was used to describe Black men who handled cattle for a living. And naturally, not far from where you'd find cowboys, cowgirls began to develop histories of their own.

Over the last five years, museum representatives say, significant progress has been made in identifying and honoring women of color in the Museum’s Hall of Fame. But, they add, more progress is needed. Consequently, the museum remains diligent in its efforts to seek out and honor Black, Indigenous, and other women of color, past and present, whose stories have been underrepresented in the history of the West.

Beyond that, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the West, and from around the world who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneer spirit in their trailblazing efforts. It includes interactive exhibit galleries that feature artifacts of the permanent collection, a traveling exhibit gallery, two theaters, gift shop, a research library and archives, and a NEW second floor. Currently, the museum’s archives house more than 4000 artifacts and information about more than 750 remarkable women.

A Snapshot of the Museum

WHEN: Started in 1975, in the basement of the Deaf Smith County Library in Hereford, Texas, the Museum and Hall of Fame moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1994 to plan for and build a new permanent home.
WHERE: The 33,000 square-foot National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is found on the Will Rogers Memorial Complex located in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, which is also home to the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and the Amon Carter Museum.

History

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame had its beginning in 1975 in the Texas Panhandle community of Hereford, TX, about forty miles southwest of Amarillo. Realizing that women of the American West had been largely overlooked for their accomplishments, the Hereford group sought to set history straight.
Housed in the basement of the Deaf Smith County Library, its first collections were modest: a few belt buckles, bandannas and some Western artwork. But by the time they were moved to a private home in 1982, artifacts had blossomed into vintage photos, rare books, saddles, costumes and more. The Museum’s purpose wasn’t just to preserve cowgirl history: The organizers wanted to share it. In 1993, the board, led by Executive Director Margaret Formb,y began the search for a new site to broaden the Museum’s educational reach.
On June 9, 2002, that glimmer of an idea conceived 27 years earlier finally became reality. Nested in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame took its place among other museum giants: the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum, the Museum of Science and History and the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Looking for more Dallas news? Subscribe.