Portrait of Jane Y. McCallum. Image # PICB 13189, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
Jane McCallum Texas’s Longest Serving Secretary of State
Women's Suffrage Jane McCallum was a fierce proponent for women's suffrage. While running a household and taking care of her four children, she was elected president of the Austin Women's Suffrage association in 1915. McCallum was also well versed in dealing with the press. She wrote a suffrage column for the Austin American and the Austin Statesman as well as serving as state manager of press and publicity for the Texas state constitutional suffrage amendment. After suffrage, she headed publicity efforts for other goals of the Joint Legislative Council, a group of five women's groups often referred to as the "Petticoat Lobby." With the "Petticoat Lobby," McCallum campaigned for education, prison reform, and stronger prohibition laws. In 1926, she headed the Joint Legislative Council's campaign for Dan Moody against the incumbent governor Miriam Ferguson.
Secretary of State In 1927, Dan Moody appointed Jane McCallum Secretary of State, an office she would retain under Governor Ross Sterling, making her the longest serving Secretary of State and the only one to serve under two different governors. During her tenure, McCallum found an original copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence in a vault in the Capitol. She had the document restored and displayed in the Capitol, an act which she considered one her most important contributions to Texas. The document is now in the Texas Library and Archives while the decorative grille is on display in the Capitol Visitor Center in Austin.
Jane McCallum with Texas’ Declaration of Independence, circa 1930, C06672, Chalberg Collection of Prints and Negatives. Later Life McCallum continued to be active in political lobbying for the rest of her life. She served as a presidential elector in 1940 and state Democratic committeewoman in 1942 and 1944. She continued writing her suffrage column, "Woman and her Ways," which morphed to a feature on women's issues after suffrage was achieved. She also wrote many features on important women in Texas history, such as sculptor Elisabet Ney, female founders of the US, and of Texas. Jane McCallum died in 1957 and was buried in Austin.