Ima Hogg

Ima Hogg

Ima Hogg was an avid art collector, and owned works by Picasso, Klee, and Matisse. Her first name was taken from her uncle Thomas Hogg’s epic Civil War poem The Fate of Marvin. Hogg never married, and died in 1975; her son is the current governor of Texas, Jim Stephen Hogg.

About Ima Hogg in brief

Summary Ima HoggIma Hogg was an avid art collector, and owned works by Picasso, Klee, and Matisse. Hogg donated hundreds of pieces of artwork to Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts. She served on a committee to plan the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. She founded the Houston Child Guidance Center, which provides counseling for children with mental health problems or diagnoses and their families. The Ima Hogg Foundation was the major beneficiary of her will, and carries on her philanthropic work today. The discovery of oil on her family’s cotton plantation made Hogg very wealthy, and she used this income to benefit the people of Texas. Her first name was taken from her uncle Thomas Hogg’s epic Civil War poem The Fate of Marvin, which featured two young women named Ima and Leila. She endeavored to downplay her unusual name by signing her first name illegibly and having her stationery printed with “I. Hogg” or “Miss Hogg”. Hogg never married, and died in 1975; her son is the current governor of Texas,  Jim Stephen Hogg, who was elected to office in 1994 and re-elected in 1998. She was the daughter of Sarah Ann “Sallie” Stinson and James Stephen “Big Jim” Hogg,. later attorney general and governor of the state. The christening had taken place too late, and Ima was to remain as Ima.

During her childhood, her elder brother William often came home from school with a bloody nose, as she later recalled,’my good name’  was a result of defending herself from bullies. When she was 15, her granddaughter Mineola Mineola Hogg took her place as Ima’s step-sister. She died in 2005, and her granddaughter is now the mayor of Mineola, Texas, where she is still active in philanthropic efforts. She is survived by her daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter, all of whom live in Houston. Her great-great-grandson is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who served as governor from 1994 to 1998. She is buried in Texas City, near her brother, Jim Hogg. She also had a son, James Stephen HOGG, who became Texas’ attorney general in 1998 and served as the state’s governor from 1998 to 2007. She had no middle name, which was unusual for the time, and had only brothers. Her grandson, William Stinson, is now Texas’ governor, and he served as its attorney general from 2007 to 2008. He is also the son of former Gov. Jim HOGGS, who died in 2010. Ima died in 2011; she was buried in Houston; her granddaughter was the current mayor of Houston, Texas; and her grandson is Texas State Rep. John Culbertson, who also served as Texas governor from 1978 to 2009.