Shudde Fath Papers

An Inventory to the Collection

Biographical Note

Shudde Beth Bryson Fath began her life of activism in the 1950s when her husband Conrad Fath ran a fishing gear and bait shop on Barton Springs Road. Fath, who received a business degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1937, did the books. When air conditioning became an important customer draw, she saw the electricity bills skyrocket. Fath called the city and asked about the rates and learned that larger corporations were paying much less than small businesses. Believing this to be unfair, she took out a newspaper ad to speak against this injustice. Her activism was ignited again in 1973 when she read about yet another proposed electricity rate increase that would favor industry over individuals. Within a few years, Fath found her way into official positions in the electricity wars, appointed first to the Mayor's Commission on Electric Rates and then to the Electric Utility Commission. Fath served on the Electric Utility Commission which oversees Austin Energy for 40 years, resigning on November 14, 2017. She was appointed by Mayor Carol Keeton McClellan in 1977 and last reappointed by Councilmember Delia Garza.

After her retirement from the Texas Employment Commission in 1981, a year after winning a major settlement in a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the commission, Fath helped found RATERS (Reform Austin's Terrible Electric Rate Structure). In collaboration with other Austin activists, RATERS made electricity rates a political issue, collecting thousands of signatures and packing a public hearing at City Council.

That same year Shudde became involved with Save Barton Creek Association (SBCA) and was elected Treasurer effective October 1, 1981. She served in this role until early 2009, when current Treasurer Kathy Smartt took over the job. While no longer the Treasure of SBCA, Shudde Fath continues to sit on the Board of Directors and is still actively involved in environmental activism throughout Austin, Texas.

Source: Adapted from Shudde Fath, Tyrant's Foe: A Lifetime of Energy by Emily DePrang on November 12, 2012. Accessed: 2015 May 4

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Scope and Contents

This extensive collection documents Shudde Fath and her many years of activism in addition to her work with the Save Barton Creek Association, River City Coordinating Council, and many other environmental organizations. It also contains documentation of her lawsuit against Texas Employment Commission for gender discrimination. It consists of 41 boxes of newspaper clippings, correspondence, legal records, ephemera, and political advertisements and publicity dating from 1936 to 2018.

The bulk of the material in the collection is contained within the Save Barton Creek Association series (1979-2013). The Save Barton Creek Association (SBCA) incorporated in Texas in September of 1979 with the purpose of the preservation of Barton Springs and the unique environment of the Barton Creek Watershed and Zilker Park. This series reflects Shudde Fath's involvement and role as Treasurer in the organization and contains a wide variety of materials relating to local and national environmental and political issues pertaining to SBCA such as newspaper clippings, mass mailings, political publicity, correspondence, formal reports, City Council meeting notes and agendas, financial reports, and handwritten notes, etc. The series is arranged into three subseries: Administrative & Pre-1981, Chronological, and Financial Records. The Administrative & Pre-1981 subseries is composed of annual meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, incorporation papers, correspondence, membership lists, bylaws and drafts, legal documents, and other administrative records that were collected by acting Treasurer and SBCA President Phil Blackerby between the years 1979 and 1981, before Fath became Treasurer. The Chronological subseries is composed of newspaper clippings, mass mailings, political advertisements and publicity, correspondence, formal reports, City Council meeting notes and agendas, and handwritten notes by year that were collected and created by Shudde Fath. The Financial Records series is composed of end of year financial reports and tax forms/documents from 1981-2008.

The River City Coordinating Council series (1980-1992) consists of newspaper clippings, correspondence, mass mailings, meeting agendas, handwritten notes, and administrative records relating to Fath's involvement in River City Coordinating Council (RCCC).

The Texas Employment Commission Lawsuit series documents Fath's lawsuit against her employer of 40 years, Texas Employment Commission, for gender discrimination. She was represented by Spivey and Grigg, Attorneys at Law, and officially filed the suit on August 15, 1977. In 1980, the case was settled out of court for $200,000 in damages as well as retirement benefits earned by an unemployment insurance director, the position the judge found she would have attained had it not been for "a pattern and practice of sex discrimination." Correspondence and legal records from 1977 to 1980, as well as Texas Employment Commission business documents dating from 1938-1977, including Fath's personnel file, performance reviews, payroll status, and general Texas Employment Commission organizational charts, salary charts, and policies, document the case.

The Subject/Working Files series (1960-2006) consists of newspaper clippings, mass mailings, and political advertisements and publicity relating to politics, politicians, and elections in Austin, Texas. The series is arranged into two subseries: Subject and Chronological. The Subject subseries is composed of newspaper clippings, records, and correspondence about Single Member Districts, Ray Mariotti (editor of the Austin-American Statesman from 1978-1984), Winston Bode, Growth Studies, and City of Austin Water & Wastewater. There are also materials documenting the Lumbermen's Investment Corporation (LIC) development plans near the Sand Beach Reserve in the Seaholm District in 2001. City Planning Commission agendas, news clippings and correspondence document the zoning controversy. News clippings, meeting minutes, and correspondence from 2010-2015 also document Brent Grulke Plaza, Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, Paramount Theatre, and Umlauf Sculpture Garden. Materials documenting Shudde Fath's husband, Conrad Fath, concern his fishing career, including articles he published in Texas Game and Fish and her nomination application for Conrad Fath to be honored in the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. A bulk of materials dating from primarily 2011 to 2013 document Shudde Fath's work on the Electric Utility Commission. Several folders contain notes and edits to the oral history transcript of Roberta Reed Crenshaw, from an oral history interview conducted by Anthony Orum in 1986. Mary Arnold and Phoebe Allen, along with others, assisted in the revision project. There are also materials concerning the naming and dedication of the Roberta Reed Crenshaw Overlook on Lady Bird Lake in 2016 and general biographical materials for Crenshaw.

The Chronological subseries is composed of mass mailings, invitations, newspaper articles, and newsletters regarding politics and politicians, both local and national, and City Council notes. These materials were donated by Shudde Fath prior to her donation of SBCA records and reflect her personal interests in regard to environmental and political activism.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use

The Austin History Center (AHC) is the owner of the physical materials in the AHC collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the AHC before any publication use. The AHC does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

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Related Material

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Separated Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Shudde Fath Papers (AR.2001.004). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.

Acquisition Information

Donor #: DO/1987/026

Donation Dates: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2017, 2018

Processing Information

Finding aid created and encoded by Sarah Sauri/2015. Updated by Kelly Hanus in January 2019.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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