Roberta Crenshaw

Roberta P. Crenshaw (1914-2005) was an Austin-area philanthropist and civic pioneer.

Roberta Crenshaw campaigned for over 60 years to preserve parkland in Austin, Texas and supported Austin-area cultural institutions.

Park Philanthropy

She was a motivating force for Austin's Town Lake greenbelt. She lobbied against motorized boating on Town Lake and won. She deserves substantial credit for today's parkland and serene trails around Town Lake. She served on the Austin Parks Board from 1952 to 1970. She helped form the Austin Parks and Recreation Department in 1974 after advocating that the Parks Division of the Public Works Department be moved to the then Recreation Department.

She donated more than 30 acres (120,000 m2) to the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park in east Austin. She bought and donated to the city the land for Reed Park in west Austin. (The park was the site of her memorial service.) She advocated the establishment of the Shoal Creek Greenbelt.

She served as Trustee of the National Recreation and Park Association.

Cultural Philanthropy

She helped restore Austin's Paramount Theatre on Congress Avenue. She was a founder and first President of the Austin Ballet Society (now Ballet Austin). She was a charter member of the Women's Symphony League. She helped establish the Laguna Gloria Art Museum. She served on the boards of the Austin Symphony, Laguna Gloria, and the Paramount.

She was a friend and patron to sculptor Charles Umlauf. In 1991, her leadership raised the private funds to build a museum for the Umlauf Sculpture Garden in Zilker Park.

She was one of the founders of the Austin History Center and leader of the Austin Heritage Society.

Professor Sinclair Black holds the Roberta P. Crenshaw Centennial Professorship in Urban Design and Environmental Planning.

Roberta Purvis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on April 17, 1914. She came to Austin, Texas in 1932 to attend the University of Texas. She graduated with a liberal arts degree and served the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority as president. She married Austin business executive Malcolm Hiram Reed. She had two daughters before her husband died unexpectedly. She remarried but was widowed again. She subsequently married a lawyer Charles Edward Crenshaw (1914-1999). (This made champion golfer Ben Crenshaw Roberta's stepson.)

On May 5, 2004 the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department began construction of improvements to a section of the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail under the MoPac Bridge (built in 1973) on the north side of the trail's pedestrian bridge crossing the lake. Crenshaw was "very instrumental" in getting the Texas Department of Transportation to pay for and install the pedestrian bridge. The bridge was later designated the Roberta Crenshaw Pedestrian Walkway by a July 18, 2004 vote of the Austin City Council and dedicated on April 18, 2005. A plaque at the north entrance to the bridge notes her contributions to Austin's parks and culture.

She was awarded the Austin Community Keepsake Award for her volunteerism work to improve the quality of life for Central Texas residents.

She was awarded the Sue and Frank McBee Visionary Award for longstanding commitment to historical preservation in the Greater Austin area.