Anita Lee Blair & guide dog Fawn, El Paso, TX
Anita Blair con su Perro Guía Fawn

Anita Lee Blair & guide dog Fawn, El Paso, TX

Anita Blair was a state representative and community activist, who died in 2010 with 93 years of age. Blair became the first El Paso woman elected as a state representative, in 1952. She was also the first blind woman to serve in an elected position in the state of Texas. During her term in office, Blair found money to remodel the State School for the Deaf. She also fought for teacher pay raises and supported a bill that allowed women to serve on juries. In her later years, Blair became a pioneer for the disabled and was active in the community. Due to an accident Blair lost her sight with 19, but with her guide dog Fawn, she adjusted quickly to the darkness. Blair attended the University of Texas at El Paso, then known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy. She graduated in 1944 with a master's degree in social sciences. The portrait was taken by Samuel Fant, it probably dates from the 1940s. Anita Blair is buried in Texas State Cemetery.

Area: Central / Downtown

Collection: Samuel Fant Collection

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH058-Blair, Anita 02

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Monarch's Red

Sipping some juice at Monarch

Lisa Heinemann and friend at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Lisa and Silke at the Downtown Opening Ceremony for DIGIE on ...

Lisa at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE.

Lisa at the Downtown Opening Ceremony for DIGIE on February 14, ...

Heather and Carlos at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Heather and Carlos, friends of the Curator of the Digital Wall ...

Heather and Carlos at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Heather and Carlos, friends of the Curator of the Digital Wall ...

Heather and Carlos at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Heather and Carlos, friends of the Curator of the Digital Wall ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Visitors at Opening Ceremony for DIGIE

Visitors at the Downtown Opening Ceremony on February 14, 2015, ...

Celebrating the Opening of the Digital Wall

A band playing at the celebration for the opening of the Digital ...

Bagwell's at Anson 11 before Chihuahuas game

James Bagwell and his twin sons, Bryan and Brandon, and his ...

Y.O.U.N.G GHOSTBUSTERS LOGO

Y.O.U.N.G GHOSTBUSTERS

Joe Gomez Keynote Speaker at Black History Month

Black History Month at Ft Bliss February 18, 2015

Tom Lea, Fighter In The Sky

Tom Lea Fighter In The Sky. Oil on canvas, 14¼ X 23¼. ...

Tom Lea, That 2,000-Yard Stare, 1944

That 2,000-Yard Stare, 1944 Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 Life ...

Tom Lea, The Price, 1944

The Price, 1944 Oil on canvas, 36½ X 28. Life Collection of ...

Tom Lea, Sickbay in a Shellhole, 1944.

Sickbay in a Shellhole, 1944. Oil on canvas, 27 X 32. Life ...

Golden Goose Tattoo

In 2015 Golden Goose Tattoo made the move from N. Mesa to 203 S. ...

Sign of the TIMES

Here is a photo of the exterior signage that hung on the ...

home.search_collection