This cheval mirror was a gift to the Museum from the Cochran family and was in the home when the Cochran girls attended Greek letter appliques are Pi Beta Phi, the Women’s fraternity that Frankie Cochran belonged to during her time at The University of Texas at Austin.

The Cactus yearbook, now in its 127th year, is the oldest publication at the University of Texas at Austin. This yearbook from 1913 marks the senior year of undergraduate studies for Frankie Cochran, the youngest daughter of Judge Thomas and Bessie Cochran. All three Cochran daughters attended UT, and Frankie's oldest sister, Bessie, was one of the first women to receive a graduate degree from the University. Frankie was Senior Class Vice President, a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, treasurer of the Y.W.C.A., and a member of the Art Club and Music Club. It is clear from her yearbook that Frankie's classmates saw her as a leader. Her entry in the roster of students reads: "Treasurer of pretty nearly everything, beginning with the Y.W.C.A. May be seen well up toward the head of all the processions. Is into everything for the fun of it, and incidentally for the good of it. Lead on Frankie, we're behind you." The Cochran girls were among the first generation of Texas women given access to higher education, and Frankie and her sisters took full advantage of that opportunity. It would be another 43 years before all people were permitted to attend the University of Texas at Austin.

This needlework stretcher was signed and dated on the bottom of the left leg by master woodworker, Peter Mansbendel in 1925. Mansbendel (1883-1940) was born in Basel, Switzerland, learned woodcarving under a local master, and later studied at the Coquier-Roland School of Art in Paris, before immigrating to the United States. Mansbendel arrived in Austin, Texas, in 1911, and opened a studio at 109 W. 9th Street, where he worked until his retirement in 1939. His pieces are prized for their fidelity, strength, and spirit. The pre-worked needlework is a reproduction of a period design (pre-worked patterns were very popular in the early 1900s). NSCDA-TX member Vereen Woodward stitched the wool background in 2016.