West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG) Records

An Inventory of the Collection

Administrative History

The West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG) is a neighborhood organization in Austin, Texas, founded in 1973 to enable neighbors to express concerns over growing development in their area and communicate directly with city officials in an organized fashion. The group represents an area within the boundaries of 35th Street to the north, Shoal Creek and MoPac to the east, Lake Austin Boulevard to the south, and Lake Austin to the west. Originally named the West Central Neighborhood Group, the organization was renamed the West Austin Neighborhood Group in 1974. After a period of dormancy during the economic downturn of the 1980s, WANG was revived in 1992 and remains an active organization.

WANG has played an active role in representing neighborhood concerns on development issues from major roadways to shopping and housing developments. The group routinely surveys group members and neighborhood residents on concerns they may hold such as safety, walkability, emergency services response times, the availability of green spaces, and whether residents are keen on increasing property values. The group uses these surveys to help determine its focus for the coming year.

As the group became more established, it broadened its scope. Committees were formed for Communications, Membership, and Zoning. A formal nominating committee recommends a slate of candidates for the executive committee, a group of fifteen members that runs the organization, each year. The executive committee meets every month (though these meetings are open to all members) at the Lower Colorado River Authority John Hancock Building and the annual meeting (open to members and non-members) meets on a September Sunday at the Howson Branch Library.

In addition to advocating for the neighborhood, WANG also functions as a social organization. Throughout the 1970s, WANG helped to organize activities like the Lake View Festival, which was a family picnic with entertainment in Reed Park, as well as an award to recognize those in the neighborhood who have worked hard to beautify and preserve it.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents of the Records

The collection reflects the work of neighbors organizing to represent their neighborhood. The bulk of the collection comes from the early years of the organization and documents a group growing from a few dedicated neighbors to a more formally organized venture with committees, subcommittees, bylaws, and a constitution. The West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG) was, and remains, an active organization and there is considerable correspondence between group members and officials from the City of Austin as well as with various developers. On certain large issues, such as the MoPac Expressway construction creating a freeway that runs through the Western portion of the city, WANG partnered with other neighborhood groups that were affected in order to present a unified voice. In addition to this advocacy work, the organization held neighborhood celebratory events and these are reflected in the records collected here. The records include meeting minutes, member lists, legal documents, correspondences, neighborhood surveys and survey responses. Also included are budgeting and spending reports, receipts, building plans, zoning proposals, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, and one cassette tape that span the years 1968 to 2002.

The first series, Administrative Materials, 1973-2000, contains materials related to the governance and organization of the West Austin Neighborhood Group, as well as documentation of its members, internal committees, and voting procedures. Material includes correspondence, organizational plans for projects (including those listed in the Community Issues series), and some printed materials documenting internal workings of the WANG organization.

The second series, Correspondence, 1973-1989, documents the group’s internal and external communication. In keeping with WANG’s role as a neighborhood organization, it communicated with the City of Austin, including the Mayor and City Council, developers of various projects, and members of the community with relevant expertise — such as engineers and consultants. In addition to this external communication, the group members sent memorandums internally regarding projects with which the group was involved.

The Financial Documents series, 1984-1990, contains financial records, particularly related to taxes. The materials housed in this series record some of the organization’s budgeting and spending habits. In comparison with records reflecting WANG's role as an advocacy organization, there are few financial records available in this collection as a whole.

Publicity and Outreach, 1973-1986, contains copies of newsletters sent out by WANG to neighborhood residents, which provided continued correspondence and involvement for residents on WANG-related issues as well as updates on the organization’s work for the year. This series also includes a number of newspaper clippings, fliers, and statements created for the explicit purpose of publicity. The materials here identify WANG’s preferred methods of outreach, and document the group’s public relations approaches when addressing its constituents as well as the surrounding Austin communities.

Awards and Celebrations, 1984-1986, reflect WANG’s role as a neighborhood community organization. Materials related to the Roberta Crenshaw Award, an organizational award named after a neighborhood luminary, and biographical materials related to the winners can be found here. This award was a way for WANG to highlight and celebrate the work of a local advocate who helped improve and protect the West Austin neighborhood. In addition to the Roberta Crenshaw Award, WANG was involved in the West Austin Family Festival and in planning for events during the Lakeview Festival and the Bicentennial Celebration. This series reflects WANG’s role as a neighborhood group, rather than only an advocacy group.

Research and Subject Files, 1968-1986, materials relate to WANG’s advocacy role and the research that leading members conducted on development projects and related issues. WANG did not limit its research only to proposed or ongoing projects, but made a practice of sending out occasional questionnaires to group members and neighborhood residents surveying how the neighborhood felt about their area, if they were satisfied with the city services they were receiving, and if there were any issues the residents felt ought to be addressed. This series contains census and demographic data offering a detailed depiction of Austin, Texas in the 1970s and projected growth data from that era looking towards the present.

The City Government series, 1973-1989, reflects WANG’s focus on broader infrastructure issues. This series traces the group’s focus on re-zoning efforts like the Austin Tomorrow Plan as well as infrastructure developments like plans for the Austin waterway. These materials represented a clear focus on the greater Austin area, as opposed to the just the West Austin neighborhoods, and thus were separated from the more organization-specific Research and Subject Files series. Included in this series are aerial maps of West Austin as well as maps of service areas for the Austin Fire Department and the school district. This series provides an overview of West Austin, particularly in the 1970s, and the development related issues that citizens, neighborhood groups, and the City of Austin have been working out for decades.

Community Issues, 1973-2002, documents the various community-centered projects with which WANG was heavily involved. Representing the primary focus of WANG, this series includes major community issues - such as the expansion of the MoPac expressway, preservation of the Taylor Slough lime kiln, and development of the Brackenridge Tract - which span several years and required much of the organization's resources. This series also contains documents representing other community issues with which WANG was only marginally involved. The preeminent issue, which is still ongoing, is the building and expansion of the MoPac expressway from 1974-1983. The group used a combination of community outreach, including flyer distribution and neighborhood meetings, as well as advocacy with the city and other partner organizations such as construction companies and real-estate developers, to protect what they saw as the primary interests of the West Austin community.

Finally, the ninth series, Work with Affiliated Organizations, 1974-1983, shows that WANG did not perform its advocacy work alone. In several cases the group partnered with other local organizations to amplify its voice. These partnerships were particularly relevant when considering major projects affecting various sections of the city. For example, Wang collaborated with the Coalition of Austin neighborhoods on the MoPac expressway project. They worked together to request sound barriers from the City of Austin as the expressway was expanded and redeveloped. Other neighborhood groups represented in this series include We Care Austin and Concerned Citizens for the Development of West Austin.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to all users

Use Restrictions

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.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Related Material

Return to the Table of Contents

Separated Material

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Custodial History:

The materials for the West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG) Records were donated by one member of the organization in April of 1984, another member in November of 1984, the West Austin Neighborhood Group as a whole in July of 1991, and the final addition was donated by a third member of the organization as the most recent addition to this collection in December of 2015.

Preferred Citation:

West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG) Records (AR.1991.008). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.

Acquisition Information:

Donor #: DO/1984/044; DO/1965/023

Donation Date: 4/3/84; 11/8/84; 7/10/91; 12/11/15

Processing Information:

Finding Aid Created and Encoded By: Nicole Lumpkins, Nina Tarnawsky, Mariah Wahl on December 5, 2018

The WANG Records were originally split into two separate accessions: AR.V.008 and AR.1991.008. In 2017, the 2 accessions were combined into a single accession AR.1991.008. AR.V.008 was originally inventoried by Richard R. Guajardo and consisted of the pre-1985 materials.

Return to the Table of Contents

Other Finding Aid

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents