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Wilhelmina Delco

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Wilhelmina Ruth Delco
Speaker pro tempore of the Texas House of Representatives
In office
January 17, 1991 – 1993
Preceded byMichael D. McKinney
Succeeded byD. R. Uher
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 50th district
In office
January 11, 1983 – January 10, 1995
Preceded byRené Orlando Oliveira
Succeeded byDawnna Dukes
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 37-1, 37-D district
In office
January 14, 1975 – January 11, 1983
Preceded byLarry Bales
Succeeded byIrma Lerma Rangel
(Redistricting)
Personal details
Born
Wilhelmina Ruth Fitzgerald

(1929-07-16) July 16, 1929 (age 95)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Exalton A. Delco Jr.
​
​
(m. 1952)​
Children4
EducationFisk University (BA)

Wilhelmina Ruth Delco (née Fitzgerald; born July 16, 1929) is an American politician who served in the Texas House of Representatives.[1] She was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.[2] She was the first African American official elected at-large in Travis County and the first woman to hold the second highest position in the Texas House of Representatives.

Early life and education

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On July 16, 1929, Delco was born as Wilhelmina Ruth Fitzgerald in Chicago, Illinois. Delco's parents were Juanita and William P. Fitzgerald. Delco attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School.

In 1950, Delco earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Career

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In 1968, Delco was elected to the board of trustees for the Austin Independent School District, becoming the first African American elected to public office in Austin.[3][1] In 1971, she led the effort to nominate Gus Garcia to fill a vacancy on the board.[4][5] She was the secretary of the board from 1972 to 1974. She was also on the founding Board of Trustees of Austin Community College and served as secretary of the board from 1973 to 1974.[6] She was a member of the Austin League of Women Voters.[7]

Prior to 1974, Travis County elected its state representatives county wide from a multi-member district. Federal courts ordered Travis County's four state representatives to be elected from single member districts starting in 1974. Delco was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from a new northeast Travis County single member district in 1974[8] and would go on to serve ten terms in the legislature. From 1979 to 1991, she was chair of the Higher Education Committee for the House. From 1991 to 1993, she was speaker pro tempore for the House of Representatives. She retired from the legislature in 1995.[3][9]

She was chair of the board of trustees for Huston-Tillotson College and an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin with the Community College Leadership Program.[3] Delco was the chair of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity of the United States Department of Education.[2] She was also involved in efforts to encourage divestiture from apartheid-era South Africa.[10] Delco was a commissioner of the Texas Ethics Commission.[11]

In 1993, she was awarded the James Bryant Conant Award by the Education Commission of the States for her contributions to American education.[12]

The Wilhelmina F. Delco Building on the campus of Prairie View A&M University is named after her.[13]

The Delco Activity Center in Austin, which opened in 2002, is named after her and her husband. It provides facilities for a variety of athletic competitions.[14]

Wilhelmina Delco Elementary School in Austin and in Pflugerville ISD is named after her.[15]

The City of Austin's Permitting and Development Center, which opened in July 2021, is located on Wilhelmina Delco Drive.[16]

Personal life

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Delco's husband is Exalton A. Delco Jr., whom she met in the cafeteria while attending Fisk University.[17] Exalton A. Delco Jr. became the first African American to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962. He had a long career as a professor at Huston–Tillotson University and Austin Community College.[18] Delco and her husband are Catholic.[19] She has four children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b McCartan, Anne-Marie (2017). Unexpected Influence: Women Who Helped Shape the Early Community College Movement. pp. 103–107. ISBN 978-1475828665.
  2. ^ a b "Wilhelmina Ruth Delco". Texas Women's Hall of Fame. Texas Women's University.
  3. ^ a b c "The Honorable Wilhelmina Delco". The History Makers: The Digital Repository for the Black Experience.
  4. ^ Slusher, Daryl (June 2, 2000). "The Life and Times of Gus Garcia". The Austin Chronicle.
  5. ^ King, Michael (January 7, 2019). ""We Were Very, Very Lucky"". The Austin Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Wilhelmina Delco, BAC Co-Chair". Austin Community College District.
  7. ^ "Wilhelmina Ruth Delco: Champion for Education". Texas Women's Foundation.
  8. ^ Dunbar, Wells (February 28, 2008). "David Van Os on Single-Member Districts". The Austin Chronicle.
  9. ^ "Wilhelmina Delco". Texas Legislators: Past & Present. Texas Legislative Reference Library.
  10. ^ "Delco, Wilhelmina R. Fitzgerald (b. 1929)". University of North Texas.
  11. ^ Whittaker, Richard (March 2, 2008). "Thompson Wins Ethics Assault". The Austin Chronicle.
  12. ^ "Honors & Awards". Education Week. September 29, 1993.
  13. ^ "Wilhelmina F. Delco Building". Prairie View A&M University.
  14. ^ "Delco Activity Center". Visit Austin.
  15. ^ "Wilhelmina Delco Elementary School". The Texas Tribune.
  16. ^ "Visit the PDC". City of Austin.
  17. ^ McCray, Marilyn (May 2009). "The Many Lives of Wilhelmina Delco" (PDF). Austin Woman Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  18. ^ Reddick, Richard J.; Thompson, Lisa B. (January 5, 2022). "Black Austin Matters: Wilhelmina and Exalton Delco". KUT & KUTX Studios (Podcast).
  19. ^ "2020 Award Honorees: The Honorable Wilhelmina & Dr. Exalton Delco". Caritas of Austin.
  20. ^ "Wilhelmina Delco". Trinity University Press.
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