AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Lady Bird Johnson, who was first lady during the 1960s and in her later years became an advocate for beautifying public landscapes, died Wednesday, family spokesman Tom Johnson said. She was 94. 

Lady Bird Johnson's real name was Claudia. 

She was the widow of Lyndon Baines Johnson, sworn in as the nation's 36th president on November 22, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy's assassination. 

Lady Bird Johnson was briefly hospitalized last month with a low-grade fever. She was released and returned to her Austin home on June 28. After suffering a stroke in 2002 that limited her ability to speak, she communicated chiefly by writing. 

Upon news of her death, Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered flags in the state to be flown at half-staff. 

"Lady Bird Johnson embodied all that is beautiful and good about the great state of Texas," Perry said. "She inspired generations of Americans with her graceful strength, unwavering commitment to family and keen sense of social justice." 

The former first lady was born Claudia Alta Taylor in 1912 in Karnack, Texas, a small town near the Louisiana line. She got her unusual nickname while still a toddler from her nurse, who proclaimed the child was as "purty as a lady bird." 

Lady Bird attended St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls, a junior college near Dallas and then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1933, then stayed an extra year to earn a journalism degree. 
Where was the first lady born?
The former first lady was born Claudia Alta Taylor in 1912 in Karnack, Texas,