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'{{Infobox person | name =Clara Driscoll | image =Mrs. Clara D. Sevier (LOC) (3350948489).jpg | alt = | caption =Clara Driscoll circa 1913 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|04|02}} | birth_place =[[St. Mary's of Aransas, Texas|St. Mary's of Aransas]], [[Texas]], USA | death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|07|17|1881|04|02}} | death_place = [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]], [[Texas]], USA | nationality = | other_names = | known_for =Saving the [[Alamo]] | occupation = [[Philanthropist]], [[historic preservationist]], [[businesswoman]] | parents = Robert Driscoll Sr.<br>Catherine McGrath Duggan Driscoll | spouse = [[Hal H. Sevier|Henry Hulme Sevier]] (1906-1937) }} ''' Clara Driscoll''' (April 2, 1881 – July 17, 1945), was a [[Texas]]-born [[businesswoman]], [[philanthropist]], and [[historic preservationist]] who provided the money to preserve the [[Alamo Mission in San Antonio]]. In 1967, a Texas Historical Marker (number 6461) honoring Driscoll was placed at 2312 San Gabriel Ave., Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5453006461&search_term=clara+driscoll |title=Clara Driscoll – Austin, Travis County, Texas |work=Texas Historical Marker |year=2013 |accessdate=12 June 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521171757/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5453006461&search_term=clara+driscoll |archivedate=21 May 2012 |df= }}</ref> In 1978, Texas Historical Marker number 1287 honoring Driscoll was placed Driscoll Family Mausoleum, Alamo Masonic Cemetery, East Commerce St., San Antonio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5029001287&search_term=clara+driscoll |title=Clara Driscoll – San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas |work=Texas Historical Marker |year=2013 |accessdate=12 June 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521171839/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5029001287&search_term=clara+driscoll |archivedate=21 May 2012 |df= }}</ref> ==Biography== ===Family background=== Clara's grandfather Daniel O'Driscoll had been born in [[County Cork]], [[Ireland]].<ref name="Caring Woman Saved the Cradle of Texas Liberty">{{cite news|last=Wolff|first=Henry Jr|title=Caring Woman Saved the Cradle of Texas Liberty|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=09IMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lGADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6657,208646&dq=clara+driscoll+texas&hl=en|newspaper=The Victoria Advocate|date=2 April 2004}}</ref> and was a veteran of the [[Battle of San Jacinto]].<ref name="Officers and Enlisted Men Battle of San Jacinto 21st April 1836">{{cite web|title=Officers and Enlisted Men Battle of San Jacinto 21st April 1836|url=http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/sjvetsunit.htm|publisher=Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="How Clara Driscoll Saved the Alamo">{{cite journal|last=Givens|first=Murphy|title=How Clara Driscoll Saved the Alamo|journal=Caller.com|date=23 September 2009|publisher=Scripps Newspaper Group — Online }}</ref> In return for his service, he was awarded {{convert|1200|acre|km2}}, plus an additional one-third of a league of land,<ref name="Caring Woman Saved the Cradle of Texas Liberty"/> in [[Victoria County, Texas]]. He also served as a [[Refugio County, Texas|Refugio County]] Judge.<ref name="First County Officials After Texas Became A State">{{cite web|title=First County Officials After Texas Became A State|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrefugi/Co_Officials_After_Statehood.htm|publisher=Refugio County RootsWeb|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> In 1837, Daniel married Catherine McGrath Duggan (1796–1852),<ref name="Daughters of Republic of Texas">{{cite book|title=Daughters of Republic of Texas|year=2001|publisher=Turner Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-56311-641-4 |pages=210, 211}}</ref> of [[Cashel, County Tipperary]], Ireland, widow of Pat Duggan. Daniel became stepfather to Catherine's and Pat's children, Michael, John and Ellen, who later married [[Mississippi]] plantation owner Daniel C Doughty. Mr. O'Driscoll died in an accident in 1849 and is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery<ref>{{cite web|title=Mt. Calvary Cemetery |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrefugi/MtCalvarycemetery.htm |publisher=Refugio RootsWeb|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> in Refugio. Catherine and Daniel had two sons, Jeremiah (1838–1890) and Robert Sr (1841–1914), Clara's father. Upon Catherine's death in 1852, Ellen and Daniel Doughty<ref name="Daughters of Republic of Texas"/> sold the Mississippi plantation and moved to Refugio to raise the boys. Both Jeremiah and Robert Driscoll Sr. were Privates in the Refugio Home Guard Unit<ref name="Refugio Guards">{{cite web|title=Refugio Guards|publisher=Refugio RootsWeb |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrefugi/homeguard.htm|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> during the [[American Civil War]]. Jeremiah and Robert Sr. expanded their operations into a multimillion-dollar operation<ref name="Clara Driscoll"/> in ranching, banking and commercial developments in [[Nueces County, Texas]], in particular [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]]. Clara Driscoll was born on April 2, 1881, to Robert Driscoll Sr. and the former Julia Fox (1834–1899) on [[Copano Bay]]<ref name="Copano Bay">{{cite web|title=Copano Bay|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrc03|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> in [[St. Mary's of Aransas, Texas|St. Mary's of Aransas]]<ref name="St. Mary's of Aransas">{{cite web|last=Huson|first=Hobart|title=St. Mary's of Aransas, Tx|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvsbf|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> in [[Refugio County, Texas]]. Clara's brother Robert Driscoll Jr.<ref name="Robert Driscoll Jr">{{cite web|last=Wagner|first=Frank|title=Robert Driscoll Jr.|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdr05|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> was born October 31, 1871 near Victoria. He died July 7, 1929. ===Education=== Clara was fluent in four languages<ref name="Clara Driscoll"/> and educated at private academies:<ref name="Woman's Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-191">{{cite book|last=Leonard|first=John William|title=Woman's Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915|origyear=1915|year=1976|publisher=Gale Group|isbn=978-0-8103-4018-3|page=731}}</ref> Mrs. Gregory's School in San Antonio, Texas; Miss Peebles & Miss Thompson's School for Girls in [[New York City]]; and Château de Dieudonne, a finishing school in [[Bornel]], [[France]]. ===Writing career=== In 1905, Clara published ''The Girl of La Gloria'', and in 1906 she published ''In the Shadow of the Alamo''. The three-act comic opera ''Mexicana'',<ref name="Songs in Mexicana">{{cite web|last=Driscoll|first=Clara|last2=Hubbell | first2=Raymond| last3=Smith | first3=Robert B | title=Songs in Mexicana (01/29/1906 – 04/07/1906)|url=http://www.ibdb.com/ProductionSongs.aspx?ShowNo=6054&ProdNo=6167|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> was adapted from a book by Driscoll,<ref name="Clara Driscoll Writer, Lyricist">{{cite web|title=Clara Driscoll Writer, Lyricist|url=http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=4850|publisher=The Broadway League|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> and was financed by her. Music was by [[John Raymond Hubbell]] with lyrics by Clara Driscoll and [[Robert Bache Smith]]. The production ran at the [[Lyric Theatre (1903 New York City)|Lyric Theatre (New York)]] for 82 performances,<ref name="Mexicana">{{cite web|title=Mexicana|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=6167|publisher=The Broadway League|accessdate=12 June 2010}}</ref> from January 29, 1906 to April 7, 1906. It was produced by [[Lee Shubert]], [[Jacob J. Shubert]] and [[The Shubert Organization]]. Listed among her friends in attendance<ref name="Mexicana Produced">{{cite news|title=Mexicana Produced|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F05E7DA153AE733A25750C2A9679C946797D6CF|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 January 1906}}</ref> were both [[United States Senate|United States Senators]] from Texas, [[Joseph W. Bailey]] and [[Charles Allen Culberson]] as well as three Texas members of the [[United States House of Representatives]], [[James L. Slayden]], [[Albert S. Burleson]] and [[John Nance Garner]], who would become [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] (1933–1941) under [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|President Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]. ===Marriage, Laguna Gloria and divorce=== On July 31, 1906,<ref name="Clara Driscoll">{{cite web|last=DeMoss|first=Dorothy D.|title=Clara Driscoll|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdr04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> Clara married [[Tennessee]]-born<ref name="Henry Hulme (Hal) Sevier">{{cite web|last=DeMoss|first=Dorothy D.|title=Henry Hulme Sevier|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fse12|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historial Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> [[Hal H. Sevier|Henry Hulme Sevier]] in [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York]].<ref name="Henry Hulme Sevier (1878-1940)">{{cite web|last=Kestenbaum|first=Lawrence|title=Henry Hulme Sevier (1878–1940)|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/TN/banking.html|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=19 June 2010}}</ref> The couple honeymooned in [[Europe]] and settled in the Sevier villa on [[Long Island]]. When Robert Driscoll Sr. died in 1914, the Seviers returned to Texas to be involved in the Driscoll family business.<ref name="Clara Driscoll"/> In 1917, Hal Sevier founded the ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]''. Hal remembered his wife's fondness for [[Lake Como]] in [[Italy]] during their honeymoon, and sought to give her the Texas version. In August 1915, they bought 28 ½ acres on [[Lake Austin]] at [[Mount Bonnell]] overlooking the [[Colorado River (Texas)|Colorado River]] five miles (8&nbsp;km) west of [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]. The land had originally been purchased by [[Stephen F. Austin]] who died before he could develop it. They chose the name [[Laguna Gloria]],<ref name="Clara Driscoll: An American Tradition">{{cite book|last=Turner|first=Martha Anne|title=Clara Driscoll: An American Tradition |year=1980|publisher=Madrona Press|isbn=978-0-89052-025-3|pages=56–63}}</ref> and Clara supervised the development of the estate and construction of the 15-room mansion,<ref name="Historic American Buildings Survey-Historic American Engineering Record">{{cite web|title=Historic American Buildings Survey-Historic American Engineering Record|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhsheet&fileName=tx/tx1000/tx1001/sheet/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Laguna%20Gloria,%203809%20West%20Thirty-Fifth%20Street,%20Austin,%20Travis,%20TX&displayType=1&maxCols=2|publisher=The Library of Congress|accessdate=13 June 2010}}</ref> which became Clara's showplace for entertaining visitors from around the world. From 1922–1926, university student Mary Lubbock Lasswell<ref name="Clara Driscoll Rescued the Alamo">{{cite book|last=Butterfield|first=Jack C|title=Clara Driscoll Rescued the Alamo|year=1961|id=ASIN: B0007EXDGM |publisher=The Library Committee, Daughters of the Republic of Texas|pages=5–7}}</ref> became a frequent visitor to Laguna Gloria. Mary described Clara as a magnetic personality with reddish-black hair and brown eyes, and who was ''"exceedingly outspoken"''. Lasswell remembered that both the Seviers were fond of Mexican and Spanish songs. Mary likened Clara to ''"an eagle among a flock of [[pouter|pouter pigeons]]"''. Clara closed Laguna Gloria<ref name="Clara Driscoll"/> when her brother died in 1929 and the Seviers returned to the Palo Alto ranch headquarters. Clara managed the family's businesses and became president of Corpus Christi Bank and Trust Company. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Hal Sevier as ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to [[Chile]]. In 1935, the couple became legally separated. They never had any children. The couple divorced on July 7, 1937<ref name="Clara Driscoll"/> and Clara resumed the use of her maiden name. ===Saving the Alamo=== Driscoll returned from Europe in 1898<ref name="A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Randy|title=A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory |year=2002|publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-1233-5 |pages=207–229, 277–280, 308, 310, 338, 339, 351|author2=Olson|editor=James S}}</ref> and settled in San Antonio. She was alarmed at the state of the [[Alamo Mission in San Antonio|Alamo]], stating her opinion in the ''San Antonio Express'' that "unsightly obstructions" near the Alamo should be removed to allow the Alamo to stand alone. The public entrance known as the Alamo's mission chapel was already owned by the [[State of Texas]], which had purchased the building from the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in 1883 and had given custody to the City of San Antonio. The city had made no improvements to the chapel structure and ownership did not include the long barracks (convento). In 1903, [[Adina Emilia De Zavala]] enlisted Clara Driscoll to join the [[Daughters of the Republic of Texas]] and chair the De Zavala fund raising committee to negotiate the purchase of the long barracks that was owned by wholesale grocers Charles Hugo, Gustav Schmeltzer and William Heuermann.<ref>d̪</ref> The asking price was $75,000,<ref name="A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory"/> most of which came out of Clara Driscoll's bank account. On January 26, 1905, the state legislature approved and [[S. W. T. Lanham|Governor S.W.T Lanham]] signed legislation for state funding to preserve the Alamo property. The state reimbursed Clara Driscoll and on October 4, 1905, the governor formally conveyed the Alamo property, including the convento and the mission church, to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. A divide between two factions erupted over how the long barracks property was to be used. Driscoll and others<ref>Charles M. Reeves to the San Antonio Business Men’s Club, August 30, 1906, De Zavala Papers</ref> believed it was not part of the original structure and should be turned into a park. Clara offered to raze the building at her own expense. De Zavala was adamant that the long barracks was part of the original building and where the major part of the battle had occurred. In 1908, De Zavala had a stand-off with authorities inside the structure. By 1911, [[Oscar Branch Colquitt|Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt]]<ref name="Adina de Zavala to Governor O.B. Colquitt, August 25, 1911 ">{{cite web|title=Adina de Zavala to Governor O.B. Colquitt, August 25, 1911 |url=http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/governors/rising/colquitt-alamo-1.html|publisher=Texas State Library and Archives Commission|accessdate=11 June 2010}}</ref> ordered the long barracks be restored to its original condition as it was in mission days. During the 1912 restoration,<ref>San Antonio Express, January 25 and 26, 1912, February 4, 1912</ref> workers discovered foundation work that verified De Zavala's instincts that the structure had indeed been an original part of the Alamo. However, Governor Colquitt was eventually unsuccessful in preserving the barracks building<ref>[http://www.drtl.org/Research/Alamo4.asp Daughters of the Republic]</ref> and when out of town on business the Lieutenant Governor [[William Harding Mayes]] allowed for the further removal of the structure.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iDFd_1yaAdgC&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=william+harding+mayes&source=bl&ots=MBYQCC3QbC&sig=pkfC4uKsSAItWubb3A7NG5PJCNA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gzXsVPGHA8OgNuWsgsgJ&ved=0CF8Q6AEwDg#v=onepage&q=william%20harding%20mayes&f=false A Line in the Sand p. 214]</ref> Driscoll then succeeded in obtaining an injunction preventing the state from initiating any reconstruction work of the convent and a case was upheld on appeal, allowing the [[Daughters of the Republic of Texas]] to remain as custodians in 1913.<ref>[http://www.drtl.org/Research/Alamo4.asp]</ref> Clara continued to work on behalf of the Alamo<ref name="A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory"/> for the rest of her life. In 1931, she again put up $70,000 of her own money to help the state legislature purchase more city property surrounding the shrine. In 1933, she backed down city engineers who wanted to purchase a portion of the Alamo property to widen Houston Street. By 1935, the persuasive Driscoll talked the [[San Antonio Fire Department|City of San Antonio Fire Department]] out of putting a new fire station adjacent to the Alamo. As president of the DRT in 1936, she oversaw Centennial celebrations of the shrine. When Clara died in 1945, her body lay in state in the Alamo chapel. ===Political involvement=== Driscoll served as the Democratic party's national committeewoman from Texas 1922–1938 and supported her friend John Nance Garner's<ref name="Garner Loses in Texas Clash">{{cite news|title=Garner Loses in Texas Clash|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QcUoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2WkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4008,2412657&dq=clara+driscoll+texas&hl=en|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=15 July 1940}}</ref><ref name="Hat in the Ring">{{cite news|last=Heale|first=Raymond Z|title=Hat in the Ring|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q_sMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fWkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6366,5993021&dq=clara+driscoll+texas&hl=en|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=5 June 1939}}</ref> 1940 bid for the Presidency. Garner's<ref name="Merry-Go-Round">{{cite news|last=Pearson|first=Drew| last2=Allen| first2=Robert S |title=Merry-Go-Round|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=drsKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Rk0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,6035298&dq=clara+driscoll+texas&hl=en|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=22 May 1940}}</ref> campaign cost $165,000. After Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected, she remained loyal to FDR. Upon her death, [[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]<ref name="Empress Clara">{{cite magazine|title=Empress Clara|magazine=Time Magazine|date=30 July 1945|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801623,00.html}}</ref> described Clara's political acumen: <blockquote> ''Money Player. Politicians soon learned to respect her: she could drink, battle, cuss and connive with the best of them, outspend practically all of them. Uvalde's white-browed John Nance Garner became her great & good friend—in & out of smoke-filled rooms, they understood each other. She made quadrennial $25,000 donations to national campaigns, but know-how, not money, worked her up to national committeewoman.''</blockquote> ===Civic and philanthropic endeavors=== Driscoll served as vice chairman of the Texas Centennial Exposition<ref name="Texas Centennial Commission">{{cite web|title=Texas Centennial|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/lkt01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> executive board. In 1939, Clara donated $92,000<ref name="Marker, Clara Driscoll">{{cite web|title=Marker, Clara Driscoll |url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=25853&Result=1|publisher=HIstorical Marker Database|accessdate=13 June 2010}}</ref> to the [[Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters|Texas Federation of Women's Clubs]], which paid off all debts against their headquarters known as The Mansion.<ref name="The Mansion">{{cite web|title=The Mansion |url=http://themansion.info/about.php|publisher=Texas Federation of Women's Clubs |accessdate=13 June 2010}}</ref> In response, committee workers declared October 4, 1939 as Clara Driscoll Day<ref =name"Committee Women for Clara Driscoll Day are Announced">{{cite news|title=Committee Women for Clara Driscoll Day are Announced|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HlIdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kVoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5440,2978521&dq=clara+driscoll+texas&hl=en|newspaper=The Victoria Advocate|date=24 September 1939}}</ref> in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]. There was a reception, candle lighting, and unveiling of a portrait titled "Clara Driscoll, Patriot" by Corpus Christi artist Roy Miller. Clara built the Hotel Robert Driscoll, which opened on May 25, 1942 in Corpus Christi,<ref name="City's historic hotels date back to the 1840s">{{cite journal|last=Givens|first=Murphy|title=City's historic hotels date back to the 1840s|journal=Caller.com|date=26 August 2009|publisher=Corpus Christi Caller Times }}</ref> to memorialize her brother. Clara maintained a penthouse suite in the hotel. The structure is now the [[Wells Fargo|Wells Fargo Building]]. In 1943, Clara deeded Laguna Gloria and a $5,000 gift to Texas Fine Arts Association Holding Company.<ref name="The Texas Fine Arts Association">{{cite web|last=Shukalo|first=Alice M.|title=Texas Fine Arts Association|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kit01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=November 26, 2013}}</ref> At her death, she established the Driscoll Foundation Children's Hospital in [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]]. ==Additional reading== *{{cite book|last=Driscoll|first=Clara|title=In the Shadow of the Alamo|origyear=1906|year=2010|publisher=original, New York & London, G.P. Putnam's sons, [[Print on demand|POD]] reprint [[Nabu Press]] |isbn=978-1-146-99833-8}} *{{cite book|last=Driscoll|first=Clara|title=The Girl of La Gloria|year=1905|id=ASIN: B0006ADYX4 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons}} ==See also== *[[Alamo Mission in San Antonio]] *[[Daughters of the Republic of Texas]] *[[Adina Emilia De Zavala]] ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=20em}} ==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Clara Driscoll |birth=1881 |death=1945}} *[http://www.amoa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=claradriscollaward The Clara Driscoll Arts Award] *[http://www.amoa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=fac_laguna Laguna Gloria] *[http://www.thealamo.org/ The Alamo] *[http://www.drt-inc.org/ Daughters of the Republic of Texas] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100919221037/http://driscollchildrens.org/DCHWeb/AboutDriscoll/Heritage.asp Driscoll Children's Hospital] *[http://www.neisd.net/driscoll/ Driscoll Middle School-San Antonio] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Driscoll, Clara}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1945 deaths]] [[Category:People from Austin, Texas]] [[Category:American philanthropists]] [[Category:American businesspeople]] [[Category:Historical preservationists]] [[Category:American people of Irish descent]]'