Changes

She launched her collection of western and rodeo artifacts beginning in 1975 in Hereford,<ref name=margaret/> where her husband, [[Clint Formby]], was a [[radio]] broadcaster at the [[Country music|country-music]] station KPAN AM and FM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/030608/loc_254328517.shtml|author=Henri Brickey|title=Hereford radioman still going after decades|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=March 6, 2008|accessdate=December 21, 2009}}</ref>​

She launched her collection of western and rodeo artifacts beginning in 1975 in Hereford,<ref name=margaret/> where her husband, [[Clint Formby]], was a [[radio]] broadcaster at the [[Country music|country-music]] station KPAN AM and FM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/030608/loc_254328517.shtml|author=Henri Brickey|title=Hereford radioman still going after decades|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=March 6, 2008|accessdate=December 21, 2009}}</ref>​

In 1994, the museum was relocated to a $21 million structure at 1720 Gendy Street in the heart of the Fort Worth cultural district. The first inductee into the Hall of Fame was Alice Greenough Orr (1902-1995) of [[Montana]], winner of three national rodeo championships in the 1930s and 1940s. Orr rode bulls in [[Spain]], was a riding instructor of [[Dale Evans Rogers]], and performed [[film]] [[stunt]]s even into her eighties. In 1993, Formby herself was the first woman elected to the [[Texas Tech University]] Rodeo Hall of Fame in [[Lubbock]]. The next year, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame through her role as the founder of the museum.<ref name=margaret/> She was also the first ever "Miss Texas Tech" in 1949 and graduated in 1950 as an English and speech teacher. She taught at the high school level in both Colorado City in Mitchell County and Hereford, and she worked as the KPAN news director. She was the editor of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame magazine, ''Sidesaddle.''<ref name=bmi>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233695|title=Margaret Formby, former National Cowboy Hall of Fame Director, Dies in Texas|publisher=bmi.com|accessdate=December 21, 2009}}</ref>​

In 1994, the museum was relocated to a $21 million structure at 1720 Gendy Street in the heart of the Fort Worth cultural district. The first inductee into the Hall of Fame was Alice Greenough Orr (1902-1995) of [[Montana]], winner of three national rodeo championships in the 1930s and 1940s. Orr rode bulls in [[Spain]], was a riding instructor of [[Dale Evans Rogers]], and performed [[film]] [[stunt]]s even into her eighties. In 1993, Formby herself was the first woman elected to the [[Texas Tech University]] Rodeo Hall of Fame in [[Lubbock]]. The next year, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame through her role as the founder of the museum.<ref name=margaret/> She was also the first ever "Miss Texas Tech" in 1949 and graduated in 1950 as an English and speech teacher. She taught at the high school level in both Colorado City in Mitchell County and Hereford, and she worked as the KPAN news director. She was the editor of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame magazine, ''Sidesaddle.''<ref name=bmi>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233695|author=Thomas Korosec|title=Margaret Formby, former National Cowboy Hall of Fame Director, Dies in Texas|publisher=bmi.com|accessdate=November 14, 2019}}</ref>​

In 1996, Formby told ''The Dallas Observer'' that much of the history of the early cowgirls has been lost over the previous decades. Six years after she started her museum, a Hereford couple donated a 6,000-square-foot house to hold her collection, which included a rare rhinestone hat worn by Patsy Montana (1908-1996), whose "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" recording sold a million copies. She continued to add to the collection, but few visitors came to Hereford, and the museum faced financial failure. "We’d go for stretches, where for days on end, nobody would come," she told ''The Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' in a 2002 interview.<ref name=margaret/> Concerts and bake sales and renting out the building for social occasions did not bring the needed revenue. She then sought to move the museum to a larger city where a steady flow of tourists would visit the expanded array of exhibits. When new people took over operation of the museum, Formby's role declined: "It's kind of like having a child and having to give that child up. It's sad."<ref name=margaret/>​

In 1996, Formby told ''The Dallas Observer'' that much of the history of the early cowgirls has been lost over the previous decades. Six years after she started her museum, a Hereford couple donated a 6,000-square-foot house to hold her collection, which included a rare rhinestone hat worn by Patsy Montana (1908-1996), whose "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" recording sold a million copies. She continued to add to the collection, but few visitors came to Hereford, and the museum faced financial failure. "We’d go for stretches, where for days on end, nobody would come," she told ''The Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' in a 2002 interview.<ref name=margaret/> Concerts and bake sales and renting out the building for social occasions did not bring the needed revenue. She then sought to move the museum to a larger city where a steady flow of tourists would visit the expanded array of exhibits. When new people took over operation of the museum, Formby's role declined: "It's kind of like having a child and having to give that child up. It's sad."<ref name=margaret/>​