FIFTH GENERATION

572. Eula Maud Isaacks was born on 26 Oct 1885 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. She died on 22 Jan 1980 in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas.⁽⁴⁶⁰⁾ She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, El Paso, Texas.

Maud received bachelors and masters degrees form the University of Texas at Austin. She taught school in El Paso High School, where she was chairman of the English department. She served in the Texas Legislature from 1954 to 1968, taking her father's place there after he resigned. She was the only woman in the 59th legislature, and was known as a champion of education. She was forced to resign due to poor eyesight. During the summers she was an accomplished genealogist, and provided much of the research that has yielded this study. She was a member of the First Christian Church, Retired Teachers Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and Daughters of the American Revolution.

From Handbook of Texas Online:

ISAACKS, MAUD (1885?-1980). Maud Isaacks, teacher and state legislator, daughter of Samuel Jackson and Minnie (Rutledge) Isaacks, was born near Austin, Texas. She moved to El Paso in 1916 and began a long teaching career in the public school system. She taught at El Paso Junior High from 1916 to 1921 and at El Paso Senior High from 1927 until 1954; from 1940 to 1954 she was chairman of the English Department. She was also a member of the state textbook committee. She earned a B.A. from the University of Texas in 1927 and an M.A. in 1940.

In 1954, when ill-health forced her father to resign the seat he had held in the Texas House of Representatives for more than fifty years, Maud Isaacks won the special election to fill his place. She took a leave of absence from the classroom to complete her father's term and was returned in the regular election in July. She was one of only five women in the House that session. She resigned from the El Paso school system on January 1, 1955, to take her seat in the legislature and was elected to five more consecutive terms. During her legislative career she served on the education, penitentiaries, public health, school districts, state hospitals, and special schools committees. As a former teacher, she was especially concerned with legislation for the public schools. She supported raising teachers' salaries, eliminating the office of county superintendent of schoolsqv in areas where independent school districts had been established, and raising academic standards in public schools and colleges. Her bill to trim the number of education courses required of potential teachers was strongly opposed by the Texas State Teachers Association,qv which successfully lobbied for its defeat. Isaacks also supported legislation to tighten insurance controls, strengthen narcotics regulations, and establish statewide soil and water conservation programs. She sponsored bills to lengthen the waiting period for divorce and to abolish the poll tax. In 1961 she was appointed to the Special Interim Committee on Education, which consulted with the Texas Legislative Councilqv in its study of teacher certification.

She was the only woman in the Fifty-ninth Legislature when she retired at age eighty, at the conclusion of the 1966 session. She died in El Paso on January 22, 1980, and was buried there in Evergreen Cemetery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: El Paso Times, January 24, 1980. "Texas Women: A Celebration of History" Archives, Texas Woman's University, Denton. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Who's Who of American Women (1966-67).

Judith N. McArthur


From the El Paso Times, Thursday, January 24, 1980, Page 1-B:

Former Legislator Isaacks dies

Maud Isaacks, who followed her father's footsteps and represented El Paso for several consecutive terms in the state Legislature, will be buried Friday.

Miss Isaacks, 95, died Wednesday in an El Paso nursing home.

She became a legislator in 1954 when her father, Judge S. J. Isaacks, resigned as representative of the El Paso district place 1. He had held that post since 1903 and was called "the dean of the Texas Legislature."

Miss Isaacks was elected to fill the position and thereafter served five consecutive terms - a total of 14 years.

A 1965 newspaper article stated her departure from the Texas government marked the end of the longest family tenure in the history of the Texas Legislature. When "Miss Maud," as her fellow representatives called her, left office in 1967, she was the only woman in the 59th Legislature and was known to her colleagues as a champion of education. She is credited with introducing numerous bills concerning teacher salaries and qualifications.

In 1963, she introduced the bill that successfully abolished the El Paso County school superintendent's post, which she considered expensive and unnecessary with the advent of independent school districts.

Other measures she supported included tightening insurance controls, strengthening narcotics regulations and providing statewide soil and water conservation programs.

Miss Isaacks lived in El Paso from 1917. Before serving in the legislature, she taught English in the public schools for more than 40 years and was chairman of the English department at El Paso High School. She also was a longtime member of the Texas State Textbook Advisory Committee.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Austin. She was a member of the First Christian Church, Retired Teachers Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Daughters of the Republic of Texas and Daughters of the American Revolution.

Survivors include her two brothers, Bill Isaacks of El Paso and Buford Isaacks of Cleburn, Texas; two nephews, Dick Isaacks of El Paso and Sam Isaacks of Alpine; and a niece, Guinnell Schwarzbach of El Paso.

Graveside services will be held at Evergreen Cemetery at 11 a.m. Friday.

Kaster, Maxon and Futrell Downtown funeral home is in charge.


From the same newspaper, Page 6D:

ISAACKS

Maud Isaacks died Tuesday, January 22, 1980. She was a fifth generation Texan, the daughter of Judge & Mrs. S. J. Isaacks. She moved from Midland to El Paso in 1917 & taught English in the El Paso Public School System for over 40 years, retiring to serve in the Texas Legislature for 5 consecutive sessions. She received her BA & MA degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a member of the First Christian Church, Retired Teachers Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Daughters of the Republic of Texas and Daughters of the American Revolution.

She is survived by two brothers, Bill Isaacks, El Paso and Buford Isaacks of Cleburn, Texas, 2 nephews, Dick Isaacks of El Paso & Sam Isaacks, of Alpine, Arkansas, & a niece, Guinnell Schwarzbach, El Paso. Graveside services will be held Evergreen Cemetery at 11 AM Friday.

Kaster & Maxon & Futrell Downtown Chapel. 201 E. Yandell 532-3431