Faces of Change: Her Story is Houston’s Story

Mural Unveiling

October 3, 2026

11am-1pm

811 Westheimer Rd.

Join us for the unveiling of Faces of Change: Her Story is Houston’s Story! Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with music, delicious bites, shopping at The Cottage Shop, and special remarks from our event chairs, CEO, and the artist, as we celebrate this inspiring new mural.

We are honored to welcome Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum who will share special remarks and commemorate this historic occasion with a proclamation celebrating the mural and the women it honors.

Parking available at 811 Westheimer and The Montrose Collective Parking Garage 2701 Grant St.

Honorees

Charlotte Baldwin Allen

Charlotte Marie Baldwin Allen (1805–1895) is called the “Mother of Houston” for her central role and enduring commitment to funding, founding, and the ultimate flourishing of this city. Born in New York, she married real estate speculator Augustus Chapman Allen in 1831. He ventured to Texas to explore land opportunities with his brother, John Kirby Allen, and in 1836 Charlotte’s personal inheritance financed their acquisition of more than 6,600 acres along Buffalo Bayou that became Houston. At that time, women were legally prohibited from owning property separately, so her indispensable financial role and generosity as the city’s benefactor were long overshadowed by her husband and brother-in-law. Despite that, Charlotte’s shrewd business instincts and civic vision shaped early and crucial city-building projects, deeding land to churches, schools, and public spaces. She is credited with naming the city after popular General Sam Houston, boosting its commercial appeal. Charlotte’s brother-in-law John died just two years after the city was founded, her husband departed for Mexico in 1850, never to live in Houston again, and only one of her four children, daughter Martha Elizabeth, survived to maturity. Undaunted, Charlotte independently managed the family’s massive real estate portfolio, cattle ranching, hotel and other businesses. A passionate early community leader, she donated her personal property for Houston’s first Market Square and City Hall site. Remaining an influential, revered resident until her death at age 90, Charlotte is buried in Glenwood Cemetery.

Terry Hershey

Terese “Terry” Tarlton Hershey (1923–2017), groundbreaking conservationist, earned respect and sometimes stubborn opposition as “the environmental godmother of Houston.” In 1966, she joined a fledgling group of bayou preservationists working to halt an Army Corps of Engineers plan to channelize, bulldoze, and pave Buffalo Bayou with concrete. Terry understood this would devastate the Houston region’s natural ecosystems, and her gifts of persuasion, community organization, and outspokenness mobilized a successful grassroots movement. Thanks to national attention and support from freshman Congressman George H.W. Bush, Terry was invited to testify before Congress. This work also resulted in passage of the National Environmental Policy Act requiring federal agencies to notify the public of plans that may have a negative environmental impact. Bush later praised Terry as “a force of nature for nature,” calling her “indomitable.” After sparking that historic victory, she kept working tirelessly to protect all 22 of the Houston area’s watersheds. In 1991, Governor Ann Richards appointed Terry to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. She was the first conservationist and parks advocate to serve on that body, which had previously focused exclusively on promoting and regulating hunting. Her decades of environmental stewardship ensured that Houston would protect essential natural infrastructure. Terry forever changed how the city approaches wildlife preservation and urban development.

Ima Hogg

Ima Hogg (1882–1975), called “First Lady of Texas,” was an exemplary philanthropist, mental health advocate, and arts patron who shaped Houston as a cultured and compassionate city. Texas Governor Jim Hogg’s only daughter, at age 13, she cared for her mother who was dying of tuberculosis. Ten years later, she nursed her father after he suffered injuries in a train accident. Upon her mother’s death, Ima was sent to a boarding school before attending University of Texas. She then studied music seriously in New York. Ima began playing piano at age three and dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. Her training was interrupted when she left to care for her father during his final illness. After his death in 1906, Ima traveled to Berlin and Vienna for more music study. She eventually abandoned her ambition, channeling her love of music into teaching piano and founding the Houston Symphony in 1913. Her own struggles with severe, debilitating depression inspired Ima to transform and destigmatize mental health care. An avid collector of early American antiques and avant-garde European art, Ima gifted her estate, Bayou Bend, to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as a premier showcase of American decorative arts. Beyond her deep devotion to cultural preservation and symphonic music, she was a visionary in fields that excluded women. The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas continues her work to expand community mental health access. Ima’s lifetime of strategic generosity left an indelible mark on Houston’s civic identity.

Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan (1936–1996), towering political trailblazer, lawyer, and civil rights icon, rose from Houston’s segregated Fifth Ward to champion justice and the rule of law on the national stage. A gifted orator, Jordan graduated from Texas Southern University before earning her law degree from Boston University. In 1966, she shattered racial barriers as the first Black woman elected to the Texas State Senate since Reconstruction, and later successfully championed the state’s first minimum wage law. She made history again in 1972 as the first African-American woman from the South to serve in the U.S. Congress. Achieving national prominence during the 1974 Watergate impeachment hearings, she delivered a ringing televised defense of the U.S. Constitution that captivated Americans. In 1976, as the first Black woman to keynote the Democratic National Convention, Barbara Jordan of Texas stood before a spellbound audience and described where Americans stood in that bicentennial year. “Are we to be one people bound together by a common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor, or will we become a divided nation? For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future.” Although her life in elected leadership lasted only 12 years, she changed the nation by proving Black women could lead and legislate on behalf of “the common good.” Jordan inspired millions as she fiercely championed the Voting Rights Act and protections for marginalized workers. After retiring from politics, she taught at the University of Texas at Austin and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo

Maria Ninfa “Mama Ninfa” Rodríguez Laurenzo (1924–2001), legendary restaurateur and entrepreneur, enriched and revolutionized the American culinary landscape. She had 11 siblings and her father, a political refugee, opened one of the first ice plants in the Rio Grande Valley along with other businesses. Ninfa graduated from Henrietta High School in Kingsville and Durhan Business School in Harlingen. In 1945, while visiting her twin sister Pilar in Providence, Rhode Island, Ninfa met Domenic Thomas Laurenzo (Tommy), an MIT graduate. They married in 1946, welcomed their first child in 1947, and by 1949 had opened Rio Grande Food Products Company in east Houston. Tommy and Ninfa had five children, but when Tommy died tragically of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1969, Ninfa struggled to keep the business afloat. Staring down financial ruin in 1973, she converted the factory’s front room into a 10-table restaurant, Ninfa’s. She served quality Mexican food with such generosity and warm hospitality that the community branded her affectionately “Mama Ninfa.” In this tiny restaurant, Mama Ninfa’s handmade tortillas wrapped around grilled skirt steak taught the world to love tacos al carbón, and what became the wildly popular “fajitas.” From one-room restaurant to major Mexican food company, Ninfa’s rise made her and her business cherished Texas institutions. She used her success to work for Hispanic and other charities, serving on a wide variety of business and charitable boards. With grit, graciousness and generosity, Mama Ninfa inspired legions of Tex-Mex copycats, while lifting future generations of Hispanic business leaders.

Dominique de Menil

Dominique de Menil (1908–1997), visionary French-American philanthropist, art collector and humanitarian, became a catalyst to transform Houston into a global force for arts and human rights. Although an heiress to the Schlumberger oil equipment fortune, she was not spared the horrors of war. Dominique fled Nazi-occupied France with her husband, John de Menil, making their home in Houston in the 1940s. Together they assembled an expansive private art collection of more than 17,000 works, embracing ancient antiquities, Byzantine icons, tribal art, and iconoclastic modern masterpieces. But instead of locating her collection within a traditional museum, Dominique adopted a revolutionary philosophy: the intimate, spiritual experience of art should be accessible to everyone. The definitive expression of her commitment was realized when The Menil Collection and campus debuted with free public admission in 1987. By selecting internationally acclaimed architect Renzo Piano for his first commission in the U.S., Dominique gave Houston another important global cultural attraction. She also commissioned non-denominational Rothko Chapel as a haven of peace and a world-renowned platform for human rights activists, including Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, the 14^th Dalai Lama, and President Jimmy Carter. The National Medal of Arts honored her in 1986 for uniting social justice, faith, art, and architecture. Best known for arts patronage, Dominique was also active in the Civil Rights movement, supporting Texas Southern University, now one of the nation’s largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She championed public school desegregation and was an outspoken backer of Black government officials.

Event Sponsors

Lead Sponsor

Diane Riley

Masterpiece Maker

H-E-B

Trudy Nix

Palette Patron

Karen Ostrum George

J’Anne Rawson

Canvas of Courage

Rev. Alden Clark and Doug Parker

Chandler Art Gallery

Barbara Jenkins Gibbs, MD

Kay and Rene’ Joyce

John P. McGovern Foundation

Caroline Mitchell

Ann Taylor and Mark Smith

Mendi and Dana Weinstein

Brushstroke of Hope

Rebecca Dalby

Chris Dobson

Susan Walker

Color of Change

Hande Grace

Bridget Hennessey

Anna Jones

Beverly and Bub Joyce

Whitmire & Munoz

Stellar Bank

Suzanne and Adam Stiles

Barbara Tindel

Jill and Jeff Young

Make a Donation to Support the Mural

Download the sponsorship opportunities here or fill out the form below.

We are thrilled that Diane Riley, a generous longtime donor is matching every gift up to $100,000, doubling the impact of your support!