Louise Raggio Has Died
It is sad to see that Dallas lawyer Louise Raggio has died. Here is her obituary. In it:
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison praised Ms. Raggio’s life and work.
“Louise Raggio was a trailblazer, an excellent lawyer, and one of the most fair people I have ever met,” Ms. Hutchison said. “She truly had a kind heart and contributed enormously to our state.”
Longtime friend Virginia Whitehill of Dallas said that for years she has told women’s gatherings, “Louise Raggio is the most important woman alive in the state of Texas.”
“And I stand by that,” she said.
This is from an editorial about Louise:
There was never was an “aha” moment in Dallas lawyer Louise Ballerstedt Raggio’s life when she knew her calling was to fight for women’s rights. It was more like a cumulative set of experiences, she once said, that gradually made her realize that if things were ever going to change, she had to make it happen. The changes she initiated probably will endure for generations to come. She died Sunday at age 91.
Ms. Raggio is perhaps most famous as the principal force behind the Marital Property Act of 1967, which reversed decades of antiquated state laws that overtly discriminated against women.
Though a contemporary of outspoken women’s-rights activists such as Betty Freidan and Bella Abzug, Ms. Raggio “could not afford to be identified with the women’s movement here,” said her longtime friend, Virginia Whitehill. Ms. Raggio preferred a less confrontational strategy, mindful of conservative Texan sensibilities.
I would say that Dallas Times Herald women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry took the same approach to feminism – often working behind the scenes. Vivian and Louise were good friends – as two of the few professional, working mothers in Dallas
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