Frances Rosenthal Kallison was a true cowgirl and a pioneer of the Jewish community in Texas. Raised riding her family's draft horses, Frances attended Vassar and graduated from the University of Chicago before returning to her native Texas to live with her husband, Perry Kallison, in San Antonio.

Frances co-founded the Bexar County Sheriff's Posse drill team, helped manage the family ranch, called the Diamond K, and wrote for Cattleman magazine. She served as the primary researcher for the exhibit on Jews in Texas at the San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures and contributed an essay on Texan Jewry to the American Jewish Historical Quarterly.

Frances also used her talents and interests to support causes for women and children in her community. While serving as the local president of the National Council of Jewish women, Frances improved services for pregnant women at the city hospital. Through the drill team, she was able to leverage funds to back the creation of a physiotherapy unit for the children’s hospital’s polio ward.

The Kallison Family: Frances and her husband Perry (in hat) with their children (left to right) Maryann, Bobbi, and Pete, 1945.
Photo courtesy of the Kallison Family.