“First Lady of Texas” Ima Hogg

Philanthropist Ima Hogg, most often called Miss Ima, was a lifelong patron of the arts, beginning to play piano at the age of three.

In 1901, she headed to New York to study music but returned to Texas to tend to her ill father in 1905. After his death the following year, she continued her musical studies in Berlin and Vienna.

Upon her move to Houston, she began teaching piano to a select group of students and helped found the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She would go on to serve as both the vice president and president of the Houston Symphony Society.

– Jacqueline Gualtieri, The Houston 100