A member of the Texas A&M University Press Consortium

McMurry University, Box 637

Abilene, Texas 79697

(325) 793-4682 w Fax: (325) 793-4754

Henrietta King

Rancher and Philanthropist

By Judy Alter

Illustrated by Patrick Messersmith

1-880510-98-7

Hardcover $17.95

7x9. 76 pgs. 5 b&w illus.

Juvenile non-fiction. Biography.

“. . . the kids will love the book, not realizing that it is ‘good for them.’”—Round-up Magazine
Spur Award finalist in the Juvenile Non-fiction category
Accelerated Reader quiz available in Fall 2006

Few women have run the largest ranch in the United States, raised a family, built a city and a railroad, and survived raids by hostile soldiers and Mexican bandits. Henrietta King did all that. The ranch is the famous King Ranch in South Texas.

Not only is she known as the matriarch of the King Ranch, but also as a philanthropist, or a person who donates large amounts of money, property, or time for the good of mankind. She gave the land for the city of Kingsville, Texas, which sits in the middle of the King Ranch. She had the First Presbyterian Church in Kingsville built and gave land for the Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, and Catholic churches in that city. She donated money for the town’s first public high school. She donated land for a Texas-Mexican Industrial Institute, a hospital, and South Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville).

Today the King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. The original Santa Gertrudis Ranch is one of four divisions within the larger King Ranch. Henrietta’s descendants still manage and control the ranch. Henrietta King, raised to be ladylike, lived an adventurous life and helped build an empire. Her legend lives on through the King Ranch and her descendants.

The Stars of Texas Series focuses on important, but perhaps lesser known, Texans and their contributions to Texas history. The series is aimed at students in the fourth grade and spotlights personalities who appear on the study guides for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test taken by all children in the fourth grade.

Written by noted Texas children’s author Judy Alter, the biographies are concisely presented in language that can be understood by fourth graders but also enjoyed by older readers. Alter is the longtime director of TCU Press and author of a number of books for children and adults. This year she received the Western Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. West Texas artist Patrick Messersmith illustrates the books with compelling black and white sketches.

For more information about the Stars of Texas Series, please contact Carlyn E. Kahl, Managing Editor for State House Press at 325-793-4682 or by e-mail at ckahl@mcm.edu

State House Press is a member of the Texas A&M University Press Consortium and is operated by the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation in Abilene, Texas. For further information on Henrietta King: Rancher and Philanthropist or other State House Press titles, please contact Carly Kahl at (325) 793-4697, by e-mail at ckahl@mcm.edu or visit the web, www.tamu.edu/upress/MCWHINEY/mcgen.html