b'Left: The 1927 historical marker at the Alamo quoting Clara Driscolls words in 1905, and proclaiming her Savior of the Alamo. Below: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, which Clara was pivotal in establishing, 1943. businesses that was located near the current-day town of Driscoll, in western Nuecesthe reigns of the Driscoll empire in South Texas, Clara assumed the presidency of County. The Seviers private paradise in Austin was shuttered and would later be do- Corpus Christi Bank and Trust along with a place on the board of directors of Corpus nated by Clara to the Texas Fine Art Association, which reestablished the property asChristi National Bank. The Great Depression, marked by the stock market crash of the Laguna Gloria Art Museum. October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, took place just three months after the In true Clara Driscoll style, the woman who was a published author and Broadwayopening of the Plaza Hotel.playwright and had been proclaimed the savior of the Alamo by age 24, and who hadThe hotel fell upon hard times, and by the mid-1930s the Corpus Christi owners sold been elected to high leadership in the Texas Democratic Party in her 30s, was in notheir interest to Jack White, the San Antonio investor who renamed it the White Plaza way considering the easy route of selling her family trust and living out her years inHotel. Clara continued to use her lavish penthouse apartment, but a shouting match leisure. Clara would only lead her life with purpose. is said to have ensued in which she called the hotel manager a stuffy old owl after he CEMENTING THE DRISCOLL LEGACY IN THE COASTAL BENDUpon takingcomplained about her loud weekend party.110THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'