Betty Andujar

Elizabeth Richards Andujar (November 6, 1912 – June 8, 1997), was a homemaker, civic activist, and politician. She was the first Republican woman to be elected and serve in the Texas State Senate.

From 1973 to 1983, Andujar represented District 12 in Fort Worth, the seat of Tarrant County in North Texas.

In 1972 she was the first Republican elected from Tarrant County to the state legislature since the Reconstruction era.

Background The rise of the Republican Party since the late 20th century was the result of two forces: the civil rights movement having gained passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which authorized the federal government to enforce constitutional rights of minority voters and resulted in black voters registering to vote in considerable number, and the shift of white conservative voters into the Republican Party after decades of affiliation with the Democratic Party.

At the turn of the century, the white Democrat-dominated legislature had disenfranchised most African Americans and Latinos. This disenfranchisement of major supporters weakened the Republican Party for decades; and the Democratic Party dominated. Since the late 20th century, the Republican Party has revived in Texas. It has a majority of white conservative members.

Early years

Elizabeth Richards was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the state capital. Her parents were Katharine L. (Beetem) an attorney, who worked as first assistant to the county District Attorney. He became District Attorney in 1932 with service until 1937, when he was elected as Dauphin County's first Orphan's Court judge. He served as judge of this court until 1961. (According to information supplied by Andujar's family to the Texas State Cemetery, her father had served as the state's chief justice.) ) Elizabeth Richards attended local schools and received a bachelor's degree from Wilson College.

Marriage and family In 1935, Richards married John José Andujar (January 26, 1912 – 2003), perhaps his father had first gained citizenship there.) John Andujar was a United States citizen by virtue of birth and his mother's nationality. John was the third of four children. His father was a minister. According to the 1920 census, his family was living in Puerta De Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. John Andujar earned a degree at Penn State Commonwealth College and received a M.D. from Temple Commonwealth University. He specialized in pathology at Cornell University and Sloan-Kettering.

Elizabeth and John Andujar moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1937. He worked as chief pathologist at Carswell Air Force Base and the Navy's federal hospital near Fort Worth before becoming the chief pathologist at Harris Hospital, at which he directed the laboratory. He became a world leader in pathology, president of the American Board of Pathologists, and the first American president of the World Association Society of Pathologists.

Civic life

Betty Andujar became active in the auxiliaries of the Texas state and Tarrant County medical associations. She later served on the boards of the Medical College of Pennsylvania and the Texas Rape Prevention and Control Project. She was active in the Association for the Prevention of Blindness and the American Cancer Society.

Although a conservative, Andujar in 1973 introduced a bill to remove prison terms for conviction of the possession of marijuana, claiming that it should be treated as a substance comparable to alcohol and regulated. The bill did not pass but she was ahead of her time: in the 21st century, this has become an increasingly popular view among law enforcement, physicians, and many citizens. Some states have legalized marijuana use for medical use, while others have also legalized it for recreational use regulated as if it were alcohol.

Andujar worked in the legislature to have the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine incorporated into the University of North Texas Health Science Center. She introduced legislation requiring county coroners to be qualified pathologists. In keeping with her civic work on treatment for blindness, she sponsored bills to allow physicians in Texas to remove corneas from deceased persons to transplant to new patients for sight restoration. She also supported bills to assist women in the collection of child support.

Legacy and honors

Andujar was listed in Who's Who in American Politics. Andujar was the first layperson to receive the Citation of Merit Award from the Texas Society of Pathologists for her legislation requiring that county coroners be qualified pathologists. In 1988, the Andujars established the first permanent chair of pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Death Betty Andujar died on June 8, 1997, and was survived by her husband. As a state senator, she was interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. The widower later married Mary Parker. After his death in August 2003, he was buried by his request next to his first wife at the Texas State Cemetery.