Portrait of Ima Hogg

Ima Hogg gave Houston a symphony, a museum and a mental health foundation

ByRenée Castellano

Photo: Unknown. Photography studio identified as The Elliotts, Aust, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ima Hogg was born in 1882 in Mineola, Texas, the daughter of James Stephen Hogg, who became governor of Texas in 1891. The story of her name, and of a nonexistent sister named Ura, followed her for life, but she was known for her work, not her name.

She studied piano in New York and Berlin and returned to Texas with a serious interest in music. In 1913, she helped organize the first concert of the Houston Symphony and later served as its president for years.

Bayou Bend

Hogg’s family fortune came from oil found on land her father had bought. In the late 1920s, she and her brothers built a home called Bayou Bend in River Oaks. She filled it with early American furniture and decorative arts, and in 1957 she gave the house and collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It opened to the public in 1966 and remains one of the city’s important museums.

Mental health

After her brother Will’s death, she founded the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas in 1940, funded by his bequest. The foundation still supports mental health research and services across Texas.

She also restored historic buildings at Winedale and in Round Top, and helped create the Houston Child Guidance Center.

Hogg died in 1975 at 93. She is remembered as one of the most important philanthropists in Houston history.

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