Grayson County TXGenWeb

As a pioneer of Texas political conservatism, Martha Tredway (1921 - —2004) was the first woman to run for the U.S. Senate from the state of Texas. In 1960, she ran for Lyndon Johnson'’s vacated Senate seat and was featured on the cover of Life Magazine. The Big Spring Herald wrote in March 1961 that "a Georgia peach transplanted to Texas hopes her platform of equal rights for women will win her a seat in the U.S. Senate."
"Mrs. Martha Tredway, campaigning on an 'equal rights' for women platform, scheduled a series of hourly cruises on a large yacht on Lake Travis last Sunday to entertain interested voters." - - - The Victoria Advocate, March 22, 1961, pg.1.
Mrs. Tredway ran as an Independent candidate in the Special Primary for the Texas U.S. Senate. She received 1,227 votes compared to John G. Towers (Republican) 327,308 votes. She lost her race for the U.S. Senate from Texas with only 0.12% of the vote.

Two years later, Mrs. Tredway was quoted in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal of March 2, 1963 concerning the difference education made between American and European women:
"Is the emancipated American woman too domineering, lazy, unfeminine, and sexually forward?
A sampling of American emancipated women across the country responded to that question Thursday with a resounding 'No'. And several male sociologists and family counselors agreed with them. The question was raised by a U.S. Information Agency poll which reports that some Euopeans think American women wear the trousers in the average family....Said Mrs. Tredway, 42, designer of her husband's children's wear plant in Denison, Texas and recent unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate on a women's business rights platform: 'Even I and many thousands of other women work, we are just as feminine as any European woman. I think my husband would say the same thing."

Edmonton Journal
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Friday, March 8, 1968
pg. 17

Ruth Bowen, Women's Editor
San Antonio, Texas - The Feminine Corporation took the coffee cake, sweet rolls and hush puppies to a night club to entertain the visiting press women here at breakfast. The visiting press women had not spent the night at El Paso Loco, which means something like somewhat mad.
But the executive committee of the women's pavilion as HemisFair set up the day for the scribes attending the Texas Fashion Creators Association shows on the site of the fair, arriving with goodies to go with the coffee to be served in the night club at 8 in the morning. There is an executive committee of 12 and a feminine board of directors of 51 members in the corporation whose legal counsel is a woman and whose president is Mrs. Winfield S. Hamlin.
The cost of the woman's pavilion at HemisFair is $650,000 with industry is helping to finance, bolstering gifts, donations, memberships for women and juniors at $5 and $1 and promises all charter member names on an honor roll in a future library.
The future of the pavilion is pointed toward becoming the inter-American institute and library of the inter-American educational centre. The theme is: Woman's changing role in a changing world. This summer at HemisFair, to open April 6, new techniques, including closed circuit television, will dramatize the story of women in the confluence of American civilizations which is the theme of the fair. Woman's story will explore historically, her achievements in the home, family, religion, industry, the arts, sciences, government and sports. Elizabeth Rouggier of Montreal is theme consultant.
The woman's building will have a major setting adjoining the Institute of Texan Cultures and is a 4-level structure of buff-colored brick. Point of view forums in the program will include men panelists. There will be music and drama, color in lighting and a spectacular on the influence of fashion through use of a film over background scenery. There will be happenings "to please all ages and both sexes."
Mrs. Hamlin outlined the purpose of the building as the guests enjoyed the hospitality of the executive committee over the delicicacies from their homes - hushpuppies, we were told, represent culinary progress from the days when the fishermen gave tidbits to silence the dogs barking from hunger and joy as the fishing boats were drawn ashore.
The Feminine Corporation supporting the women's building has the energy, imagination and community enthusiasm that focuses all San Antonio on the fair. And the Feminine Corporation has not sacrificed one whit of the charm of the feminine touch.
Martha Treadway is a fashion designer, beautiful and blonde. She can't sew, but she can run a factory employing 220 persons using 228 machines. She's terrified of sewing machines and she and her husband and son run a big industrial business which began with a diaper. Mrs. Treadway's business card is a blue triangle diaper fold and it represents the story of how the family fortune was made through a bluejean diaper.
Eighteen years ago the Treadways owned a hotel at Reno where they were bringing up their infant son. Mrs. Treadway couldn't sew a sunsuit, but says. "I could cut anything." She cut a pair of men's blue jeans to make a playsuit diaper for the baby, using the buttons for fastening. The infant, Randy, was seen by a film scout, then photographed in a picture magazine. In one week the Treadways had 23,000 calls and letters about the bluejean diaper.
They decided to sell the hotel and go into the business. In a year they lost their entire investment. But they began again by engaging people who knew more about the details of patents, machinery, and industry.
Now Mrs. Treadway is both children's clothing and factory boss. Her husband is the sales manager and Randy, a senior in high school who includes business management in his curriculum, will go on to study industry at university. His first job in the firm was as janitor, now he's in the shipping department.
It was the diaper which started the family on this industrial development and Martha Treadsay's card is still the bluejean diaper.
But she designs the most exquisite feminine fluffs of froufrou for toddlers and their big sisters you'd see.

In 1973 Martha married Harold Louis Hudson in 1973. Harold was born in Oklahoma to Arvard & Irene Davis Hudson. Tragically Harold's mother was killed in an automobile accident just a year after he was born; however, his father married Juanita Black, who raised Harold as her own son along with brothers, L.A. and Charles, and sister Marianne. The Hudsons owned and operated Hudson's Big Country Store in Coalgate, Okalahoma; Harold worked in the family business until its closing in 1991. Harold died on Monday, December 22, 2014.

Martha died in 2004 from a series of strokes. Her memorial service was held at the First Baptist Church in Denison.