Ima Hogg, daughter of Governor James Stephen Hogg, was born in Mineola, Texas, on July 10, 1882. After graduating from the University of Texas, Ima spent the years between 1901 and 1909 studying music in New York, Berlin, and Vienna. She then moved to Houston, where she provided private piano lessons to select individuals and helped found the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She served as the first vice president of the Houston Symphony Society and became president in 1917.

Along with her musical talents, Ima Hogg also involved herself in numerous philanthropic endeavors. She aided in the founding the Houston Child Guidance Center and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Hygiene, later known as the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. She also participated in the Philosophical Society of Texas, the Texas State Historical Survey Committee, and the Academy of Texas. In 1966 Ima donated her American art and antique collection along with her River Oaks mansion, Bayou Bend, to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

Ima spent the majority of her life working with the arts both on the local and national levels. Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Ima to a committee for the planning of what is now known as the Kennedy Center and she also served on an advisory panel tasked with selecting historic furniture for the White House. She received numerous awards and honors for her philanthropic and cultural contributions to the state of Texas. Included in her accolades, Ima, along with Oveta Culp Hobby and Lady Bird Johnson, became the first three members of the Academy of Texas. On August 19, 1975, at the age of 93, Ima Hogg died of complications from a traffic accident while she was vacationing in London.