Essay on Clara Driscoll - Savior Of The Alamo

Clara Driscoll was the woman that bought almost all of the alamo for Texas, with her own money. She provided an astounding 75,000 dollars towards the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, and got rid of obstructions that she thought were unsightly to help the Alamo stand alone. In her later years, she also preserved many other historical sights in many ways, like turning them into monuments or museums. Clara was a person that had a very strong passion for historic preservation, as well as politics. She stood firm to her beliefs, and acted based on what she thought needed to be done. Although not a Daughter of the Republic of Texas, she spent her time and energy to do the things that were important for the later generations.

Her ancestors were a part of the Irish Catholic that settled between the Nueces and Guadalupe rivers, and both of her grandfathers were veterans in the Texas Revolution. By the late 1890s her father had amassed a multi-million dollar company from ranching, banking, and commercial developments around the Corpus Christi Area. She got one of the best educations possible at the time, as she attended private schools throughout Texas, New York City, and France.

Due to this education, she found herself having a strong passion for preserving historic sites in Texas to benefit the future generations. When she saw the state of disrepair that the Long Barrack was in, she was shocked. She then found out that the Alamo was soon to become a hotel! The state of Texas only owned the iconic Alamo church, while merchants were in control of the Long Barracks, since the state refused to pay for the rest of the land, where most of the famous battle occurred.The cry at the battle of San Jacinto was “Remember the Alamo!” yet Texas had let the Alamo become an empty shell of its former self. She needed to do something.

She worked with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to try and draw attention to their efforts to acquire and preserve the Alamo, and after all her efforts, she ended up paying for the Long Barracks with her own money. She would eventually be paid back by the state of Texas, and custodianship was granted to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Clara Driscoll began receiving international publicity as “The Savior of the Alamo.”

She then began her writing career, and wrote many different kinds of things, like short stories, novels, and even a comic opera. Her husband, Henry Halume (Han) Sevier, served as the financial editor of the New York Sun, while Clara became the president of the Texas Club and entertained extensively at their villa on Long Island. She began moving to many different places, and switching jobs multiple times due to various circumstances. Eventually her marriage was dissolved, and she regained her maiden name.

The next decade of her life, she spent a huge amount of her time on club activity, civic betterment, and historic preservation. Due to her outspoken and independent mind, she began to relish participation in politics. She was elected as the Democratic Party’s national committee woman for Texas, and stayed in her position for an unprecedented sixteen years! 

Clara Driscoll wasn’t a Daughter of the Republic of Texas, but she did so much to contribute to the state through historic preservation, and politics alike. She worked hard throughout her years to make sure that the state was headed in the right direction, and that historic places could be kept for future generations. Clara was an independent woman who did everything in her power to help others. She is truly worthy of the title “The Savior of the Alamo.”