Eleanor Whilden Tinsley (October 31, 1926 – February 10, 2009) was an American city council and school board member. She was named to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1988. The daughter of W. C. Whilden and Georgiabel Burleson, she was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and grew up there. She was educated at the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

and went on to earn a bachelor's degree at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. She married James Aubrey Tinsley in 1948 and moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

in 1953; the couple had three children. Tinsley was active in

school integration School integration in the United States is the process (also known as desegregation) of ending Race (human categorization), race-based Racial segregation in the United States, segregation within American public and private schools. School segreg ...

. In 1969, she was elected to the Houston Independent School Board; she became board president in 1972. She was defeated when she ran for reelection in 1973. She was elected to Houston city council in 1979. During her time on council, she worked on regulations to limit billboards, indoor smoking bans, bicycle helmet regulations, gay rights and establishing the

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

system. She served on council until 1995 when she was forced to retire due to limits on terms. She helped elect the city's first openly gay mayor Annise Parker in 2009. Tinsley continued to serve her community with organizations such as

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

and the

Baptist General Convention of Texas The Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist World Alliance. In 2009, the BGCT began to also go by the name ...

. She founded the SPARK Park Program which created 200 playgrounds and parks in Houston. She ran unsuccessfully for the position of county commissioner in 1990. Tinsley also served as president of the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards. She helped establish payment by the state for foster care for children not covered by welfare and for children in the AFDC program. She received the Texas Institute for Research and Rehabilitation's President Award for helping persons with disabilities and the American Lung Institute of Texas' Public Advocacy Award. She died from cancer in Houston at the age of 82. The Eleanor Tinsley Elementary School and

Eleanor Tinsley Park Eleanor Tinsley Park is a section of Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston, Texas. It was designated on April 20, 1998 in honor of Eleanor Tinsley, who served as a member of the Houston City Council At-Large for 16 years. The park houses the Lee and Jo ...

were named in her honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tinsley, Eleanor 1926 births 2009 deaths Baylor University alumni School board members in Texas Houston City Council members Activists from Texas Women city councillors in Texas College of William & Mary alumni