Career
Hemphill served as Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court for eighteen years while Texas was an independent republic and in the period of statehood before the Civil War. He was called the 'John Marshall' of Texas for the role he played in the development of Texan law. He became known for an incident in which he fought Indian warriors who had attacked him in a courtroom while his court was in session.
Hemphill was considered an expert on Spanish and Mexican law, and is remembered for expanding women's rights and supporting homestead rights. Hemphill replaced Sam Houston as United States Senator from Texas when Houston would not support the right of states to secede from the United States.
Read more about this topic: John Hemphill (senator)
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman’s natural fitness for the career of mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)