Ninfa Laurenzo, matriarch of the Laurenzo restaurant family, in May1990. She was affectionately known as “Mama Ninfa” to those who ate her tacos al carbon, chili conqueso and enchiladas.
John Everett/Houston Chronicle
Ima Hogg is one of the women featured in a new large mural by Anat Ronen for The Women’s Home nonprofit.
Photo courtesy The Women’s Home
03/20/1972 — State Sen. Barbara Jordan stands in front of her campaign headquarters at 1805 Austin, which opened during the weekend. Sen. Jordan is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. representative from the 18th District.
Tom Colburn/Houston Chronicle
Dominique De Menil relaxes in front of a museum housing her magnificent collection of modern art. The museum, The Menil Collection, at 1515 Sul Ross, opened to the public Sunday, June 7, 1987.
E. Joseph Deering/Houston Chronicle
Portrait of Terry Hershey, 90, at her home Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, in Houston. Hershey, who has a park along the Energy Corridor named after her, has been a life-long conservationist. ( Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle )
Johnny Hanson/Houston Chronicle
Artist Anat Ronen stands in the corner of Willowbend Boulevard and West Bellfort Street where she painted morning glory vines on a traffic control cabinet in 2015.
Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle
A new Westheimer mural will honor six women who helped shape Houston, including Barbara Jordan, Ima Hogg, Terry Hershey and restaurateur Ninfa “Mama Ninfa” Laurenzo.
“Faces of Change: Her Story is Houston’s Story” is being painted by Houston artist Anat Ronen. A public unveiling is scheduled for Oct. 3 at 811 Westheimer Road in Houston.
The Women’s Home commissioned Ronen to create “Faces of Change: Her Story is Houston’s Story,” a 61-foot-by-20-foot mural celebrating six women selected by Houstonians for their influence on the city, according to the nonprofit. The project brings together figures from Houston’s political, cultural, environmental, philanthropic and culinary history on a wall at The Women’s Home’s Cottage Shop on Westheimer.
Article continues below this ad
The Women’s Home provides treatment, support services and housing aimed at helping women and families achieve stability.
RESTAURANT TRENDS: The hot new event at Houston restaurants? Mahjong night.
The Houston honorees
The honorees are women who opened doors, challenged convention, built Houston institutions and created opportunities for future generations.
• Charlotte Baldwin Allen — As the wife of Houston’s co-founder Augustus Chapman Allen, she is considered the “Mother of Houston.” Her inheritance helped her husband and his brother finance their early land speculation, including the purchase of land along Buffalo Bayou, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
Article continues below this ad
She died in 1895 at age 93 and is buried in Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery.
• Dominique de Menil — She helped build Houston’s international reputation in the arts and human rights. De Menil and her husband, John, established the Menil Foundation and founded the Menil Collection. She died at age 89 in 1997.
• Terry Hershey — In the 1960s, when plans threatened to channelize Buffalo Bayou, Hershey rallied Houstonians to protect its natural character and helped stop the project. One of the city’s noted conservationists, she fought for the city’s natural spaces. Terry Hershey Park is named for her. She died at age 94 in 2017.
• Ima Hogg — She was a philanthropist and civic leader who helped shape Houston’s cultural and civic institutions. She helped establish the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens and the Houston Child Guidance Center.
She died at age 93 in 1975. She also helped restore the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historical Site near West Columbia.
Article continues below this ad
• Barbara Jordan — She was the first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate and, in 1972, the first Black woman elected to Congress from the South.
“A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she left Houston and the nation a legacy of courage, integrity, equality and principled leadership — and a powerful example of the responsibility that comes with having a voice,” according to the release. She died in 1996 at age 59.
• Ninfa Rodríguez Laurenzo — Known as “Mama Ninfa,” she changed Houston’s culinary landscape and became a prominent Latina entrepreneur. She opened a small 10-table restaurant on Navigation Boulevard in 1973 and helped popularize fajitas in Houston and beyond. She died in 2001 at age 77.
ZOO FREE DAYS: Houston Zoo has 4 free days left this year. Here’s how to get tickets
The artist
The artwork by Ronen will be a permanent tribute to the six honorees, according to The Women’s Home.
Article continues below this ad
Her work includes murals, street painting and works on canvas shown in public spaces, museums and exhibitions in Houston, elsewhere in the United States and abroad.