Clara Driscoll

Clara Driscoll (April 2, 1881 – July 17, 1945), was a Texas-born philanthropist. Driscoll is known as the "Savior of the Alamo" for her work to preserve the site of the Battle of the Alamo.

The Biography

Her Family's background

Driscoll's grandfather Daniel O'Driscoll had been born in County Cork, Ireland. and was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. In return for his service, he was awarded , plus an additional one-third of a league of land, In 1837, Daniel married Catherine McGrath Duggan (1796–1852), 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 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 during the American Civil War. Jeremiah and Robert Sr. expanded their operations in St. Mary's of Aransas in Refugio County, Texas. Clara's brother Robert Driscoll Jr. was born October 31, 1871, near Victoria. He died July 7, 1929.

Education

Clara was fluent in four languages 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, was adapted from a book by Driscoll, 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 (New York) for 82 performances, 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 were both 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 (1933–1941) under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Marriage, Laguna Gloria and divorce

On July 31, 1906, Clara married Tennessee-born Henry Hulme Sevier in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. 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. and Clara supervised the development of the estate and construction of the 15-room mansion, which became Clara's showplace for entertaining visitors from around the world.

In 1926, Driscoll wrote in the local magazine Gossip:

From 1922 to 1926, university student Mary Lubbock Lasswell 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 pigeons".

Clara closed Laguna Gloria and Clara resumed the use of her maiden name.

Saving the Alamo

Driscoll returned from Europe in 1898 and settled in San Antonio. She was alarmed at the state of the 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 fundraising committee to negotiate the purchase of the long barracks that was owned by wholesale grocers Charles Hugo, Gustav Schmeltzer and William Heuermann. The asking price was $75,000, 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, Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt ordered the long barracks be restored to its original condition as it was in mission days. During the 1912 restoration, 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 and when he was out of town on business Lieutenant Governor William Harding Mayes allowed for the further removal of the second floor of the structure.

Clara continued to work on behalf of the Alamo 1940 bid for the Presidency. Garner's campaign cost $165,000. She continued to support Franklin D. Roosevelt after he was reelected.

Upon her death, Time magazine described Clara's political acumen:

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.

Civic and philanthropic endeavors

Driscoll served as vice chairman of the Texas Centennial Exposition executive board.

In 1939, Clara donated $92,000 to the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, which paid off all debts against their headquarters known as The Mansion. In response, committee workers declared October 4, 1939, as Clara Driscoll Day in 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, to memorialize her brother. Clara maintained a penthouse suite in the hotel. The structure is now the Wells Fargo Building.

In 1943, Clara deeded Laguna Gloria and a $5,000 gift to Texas Fine Arts Association Holding Company.

Memorials A plaque in the Long Barrack at the Alamo in San Antonio honors Driscoll, with words from a resolution outlining her impact in preserving the Alamo from developers. Marker 1287, erected in 1978, is found at site of the Driscoll family mausoleum at the Alamo Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio.