Mame Roberts, the daughter of James M. and Martha Sue (Baxter) Roberts, lived her entire life in or near Howe and, after working as a largely self-taught substitute teacher in the lower grades at the Howe Public Schools in the early 1900s, devoted her life’s work to civic improvement and beautification. Through a weekly column in the Howe Messenger, she promoted her hometown and encouraged its beautification, and her campaign to make Howe the "Prettiest Little Town in Texas" inspired other small Texas towns to take similar action. A series of articles in the Dallas Morning News offered step-by-step instructions for beautification efforts, and she became a sought-after speaker at garden club gatherings throughout this part of the state. Her work drew the attention of Life Magazine and Reader’s Digest, and on May 14, 1949, she was named "Woman of the Day" on Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt’s national radio program. Her leadership roles included president of the Grayson County Federation of Women’s Clubs, president of the Texoma Redbud Association, which urged the planting of redbuds along highways in Texas and Oklahoma, and founder and president of the Howe Sesame Club. Spanning the decades before and after World War II, her work became a significant part of the civic history of Howe and of the towns that put her lessons into action.