Eunice May Dikes

Gonzalez County, Texas

My Grandmother, Eunice May Dikes, was born in 1894 in Gonzales County, Texas. Her father was a rancher who didn't think women should get a higher education. He had, however, sent his oldest son to the University of Texas. 

My grandmother was the oldest daughter, and she won an academic scholarship from her high school for college, but her father did not think she should go. She respectfully disagreed. 

She got a job teaching school (only a high school diploma was required at the time) and saved her money so she could pay her expenses not covered by the scholarship. She went to the University of Texas on her own dime. Two of her younger sisters later followed the trail she had blazed to college. 

Attached are a studio portrait of my grandmother and a tintype of her taken in 1915, riding side-saddle on a longhorn, no doubt at a university event in Austin. She was a very sweet, ladylike person, but she loved UT football, and voted in every election. 

She believed every woman should get an education, get a job, and vote. 

LJ

July 2020