Margaret Formby
Encyclopedia
Margaret Clark Formby was the daughter of southwest Texas
ranchers who founded the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
in the basement of the public library in Hereford
in Deaf Smith County before she relocated the collection to Fort Worth
.
Formby was born to Fred and Mabel Clark in Van Horn
in Culberson County
east of El Paso
. She once described her upbringing as "growing up western", and she fought to recognize women for their influence in western culture. She graduated second in her class in 1946 from Van Horn High School.
She launched her collection of western and rodeo
artifacts beginning in 1975 in Hereford, where her husband, Clint Formby
, was a radio
broadcaster at the country-music
station KPAN AM&FM
.
The museum was relocated in 1994 to a $21 million structure at 1720 Gendy Street in the heart of the Fort Worth cultural district. The first inductee into the Hall of Fame was Alice Greenough Orr
of Montana
, winner of three national rodeo championships in the 1930s
and 1940s
. Orr rode bulls in Spain
, was a riding instructor of Dale Evans Rogers, and performed motion picture stunt
s even into her eighties. In 1993, Formby herself was the first woman elected to the Texas Tech University
Rodeo Hall of Fame in Lubbock
. The next year, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame through her role as the founder of the museum. She was also the first ever "Miss Texas Tech" in 1949 and graduated in 1950 as a teacher of English
and speech
. She taught at the high school
level in both Colorado City
in Mitchell County and Hereford, and she worked as the KPAN news director. She was the editor of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame magazine
, Sidesaddle.
In 1996, Formby told the Dallas Observer
that much of the history
of the early cowgirls has been lost over the previous decades. Six years after she started her museum, a Hereford couple donated a 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) house to hold her collection, which included a rare rhinestone
hat worn by Patsy Montana
, whose "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart
" recording sold a million copies. She continued to add to the collection, but few visitors came to Hereford, and the museum faced financial failure. "We’d go for stretches, where for days on end, nobody would come," she told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
in a 2002 interview. Concerts and bake sales and renting out the building for social occasions did not bring the needed revenue. She then sought to move the museum to a larger city where a steady flow of tourists would visit the expanded array of exhibits. When new people took over operation of the museum, Formby's role declined: "It's kind of like having a child and having to give that child up. It's sad."
Conflict soon developed between Hereford and Fort Worth values in regard to the museum. The Hereford originators claim rude treatment and hurt feelings from the Fort Worth multimillionaire socialites who took over the museum. The relocation has since "bred a dust storm of conflict. Not the least of it is a lawsuit that the hall's new managers filed in Fort Worth [in 1996] against a well-liked New York
restaurateur who put Hereford's museum on the national map."
Formby was also active in local and state civic affairs, including the chamber of commerce
, the Kings Manor Methodist Home, and the American Cancer Society
. In 1977, she was appointed to the Texas State Committee on Child Pornography
. In 1982, she was appointed to the Texas State Committee on Teenage Pregnancy
. She served as president of Friends of
the Library and the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech from 1986–1987 and was a board member of the National Ranching Heritage Center
at Texas Tech from 1983–1985, having worked to develop the "Cowboy Symposium" held there. In 2000, she donated $450 to the Republican National Committee
.
Margaret Formby died in her Hereford home of a fall in the bathroom. Her body was found by her housekeeper. She and her husband had five children, Larry C. "Chip" Formby (born 1953) and wife, Lisa, of Hereford, who works with his father at KPAN, Marshall Clark Formby and wife, Betty, of San Antonio
and Ben Formby and Scott C. Formby (born 1961) and wife, Kathy, all of New York City
, and the late Linda Kay Formby. She had four grandchildren and a sister, Mary Beth Clark Powell of Hereford. Formby was a niece by marriage of former Texas State Senator and highway commissioner Marshall Formby
. She was a cousin by marriage of sitting state Senator Robert L. Duncan
of Lubbock.
Services were held at the First Baptist
Church of Hereford on April 14, 2003. Though she was a member of the Fellowship of Believers Church in Hereford, Formby often taught Sunday school and Bible study at her husband's Baptist church. Interment was at West Park Cemetery north of Hereford.
In 2000, Formby was named to the "100 That Made a Difference: History Makers of the High Plains" by the Amarillo Globe-News
. She also received the "Pioneer Woman Award" from the American Cowboy Culture Society.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
ranchers who founded the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and association which honors women of the American West who have displayed courage or spirit and who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit...
in the basement of the public library in Hereford
Hereford, Texas
Hereford is a city in Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,597 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated Hereford in the country. It is the county seat of Deaf Smith County....
in Deaf Smith County before she relocated the collection to Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
.
Formby was born to Fred and Mabel Clark in Van Horn
Van Horn, Texas
Van Horn is a town in and the county seat of Culberson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Van Horn is located at ....
in Culberson County
Culberson County, Texas
Culberson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In 2000, its population was 2,975. Culberson was founded in 1911. It is named for David B. Culberson, a lawyer and Confederate soldier in the American...
east of El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. She once described her upbringing as "growing up western", and she fought to recognize women for their influence in western culture. She graduated second in her class in 1946 from Van Horn High School.
She launched her collection of western and rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
artifacts beginning in 1975 in Hereford, where her husband, Clint Formby
Clint Formby
John Clinton Formby, known as Clint Formby , was a veteran radio broadcaster called the "Old Philosopher" based in the small city of Hereford, Texas, the seat of Deaf Smith County in the Texas Panhandle. His daily broadcast ran continuously on his KPAN AM & FM country-music station since October...
, was a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcaster at the country-music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
station KPAN AM&FM
KPAN-FM
KPAN-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country-music format. KPAN-FM is licensed to serve the community of Hereford, Texas, USA. The station is currently owned by KPAN Broadcasters....
.
The museum was relocated in 1994 to a $21 million structure at 1720 Gendy Street in the heart of the Fort Worth cultural district. The first inductee into the Hall of Fame was Alice Greenough Orr
Alice Greenough Orr
Alice Greenough Orr , a rancher’s daughter in Montana, became an internationally known rodeo performer and organizer who was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, and in 2010 the...
of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, winner of three national rodeo championships in the 1930s
1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
and 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
. Orr rode bulls in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, was a riding instructor of Dale Evans Rogers, and performed motion picture stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
s even into her eighties. In 1993, Formby herself was the first woman elected to the Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
Rodeo Hall of Fame in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. The next year, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame through her role as the founder of the museum. She was also the first ever "Miss Texas Tech" in 1949 and graduated in 1950 as a teacher of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and speech
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
. She taught at the high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
level in both Colorado City
Colorado City, Texas
Colorado City is a city in and the county seat of Mitchell County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,281 at the 2000 census....
in Mitchell County and Hereford, and she worked as the KPAN news director. She was the editor of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, Sidesaddle.
In 1996, Formby told the Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
that much of the history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of the early cowgirls has been lost over the previous decades. Six years after she started her museum, a Hereford couple donated a 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) house to hold her collection, which included a rare rhinestone
Rhinestone
A rhinestone or paste or diamante is a diamond simulant made from rock crystal, glass or acrylic.Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine. The availability was greatly increased around 1775 when the Alsatian jeweller Georg Friedrich Strass had the idea to imitate...
hat worn by Patsy Montana
Patsy Montana
Ruby Rose Blevins , known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country performer to have a million-selling single...
, whose "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart
I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart
"I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" is a country and Western song written and first recorded in 1935 by Rubye Blevins, who performed as Patsy Montana. It was the first country and Western song by a female artist to sell more than one million copies....
" recording sold a million copies. She continued to add to the collection, but few visitors came to Hereford, and the museum faced financial failure. "We’d go for stretches, where for days on end, nobody would come," she told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
in a 2002 interview. Concerts and bake sales and renting out the building for social occasions did not bring the needed revenue. She then sought to move the museum to a larger city where a steady flow of tourists would visit the expanded array of exhibits. When new people took over operation of the museum, Formby's role declined: "It's kind of like having a child and having to give that child up. It's sad."
Conflict soon developed between Hereford and Fort Worth values in regard to the museum. The Hereford originators claim rude treatment and hurt feelings from the Fort Worth multimillionaire socialites who took over the museum. The relocation has since "bred a dust storm of conflict. Not the least of it is a lawsuit that the hall's new managers filed in Fort Worth [in 1996] against a well-liked New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
restaurateur who put Hereford's museum on the national map."
Formby was also active in local and state civic affairs, including the chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, the Kings Manor Methodist Home, and the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. In 1977, she was appointed to the Texas State Committee on Child Pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
. In 1982, she was appointed to the Texas State Committee on Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
. She served as president of Friends of
the Library and the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech from 1986–1987 and was a board member of the National Ranching Heritage Center
National Ranching Heritage Center
The National Ranching Heritage Center, a museum of ranching history, is located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. It features almost fifty authentic ranch buildings dating from the late 18th to the mid-20th century...
at Texas Tech from 1983–1985, having worked to develop the "Cowboy Symposium" held there. In 2000, she donated $450 to the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
.
Margaret Formby died in her Hereford home of a fall in the bathroom. Her body was found by her housekeeper. She and her husband had five children, Larry C. "Chip" Formby (born 1953) and wife, Lisa, of Hereford, who works with his father at KPAN, Marshall Clark Formby and wife, Betty, of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and Ben Formby and Scott C. Formby (born 1961) and wife, Kathy, all of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and the late Linda Kay Formby. She had four grandchildren and a sister, Mary Beth Clark Powell of Hereford. Formby was a niece by marriage of former Texas State Senator and highway commissioner Marshall Formby
Marshall Formby
Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. , was a Texas attorney, newspaper publisher, radio executive, and a Democratic politician who served a term in the Texas State Senate from District 30 from 1941 to 1945. He was a defender of West Texas interests and entitled a 1962 book, These Are My People...
. She was a cousin by marriage of sitting state Senator Robert L. Duncan
Robert L. Duncan
Robert Lloyd Duncan is a Republican member of the Texas Senate from the 28th District, centered on Lubbock. First elected to the Senate in a 1996 special election, Duncan had previously served in the Texas House of Representatives from District 84 from 1989 to 1993.-Background:Duncan is the only...
of Lubbock.
Services were held at the First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church of Hereford on April 14, 2003. Though she was a member of the Fellowship of Believers Church in Hereford, Formby often taught Sunday school and Bible study at her husband's Baptist church. Interment was at West Park Cemetery north of Hereford.
In 2000, Formby was named to the "100 That Made a Difference: History Makers of the High Plains" by the Amarillo Globe-News
Amarillo Globe-News
Amarillo Globe-News is a newspaper in Amarillo, Texas, owned by the Morris Communications Company.The current-day Globe-News is a combination of several newspapers published in Amarillo. One began on November 4, 1909, as a prohibition publication by the Baptist deacon Dr. Joseph Elbert Nunn...
. She also received the "Pioneer Woman Award" from the American Cowboy Culture Society.