Alexander Penn Wooldridge
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Alexander Penn Wooldridge
| image =
| order = 36th
| office = Mayor of Austin
| term_start = 1909
| term_end = 1919
| predecessor = Frank M. Maddox
| successor = William D. Yett
| birth_date = {{birth date|1847|4|13}}
| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1930|9|8|1847|4|13}}
| death_place = Austin, Texas, U.S.
| party =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Ellen Waggener|1874|1903|end=died}}
- {{marriage|Nellie Wylie Holde|1917}}
}}
| children = 7
| alma_mater = University of Virginia
}}
Alexander Penn Wooldridge (April 13, 1847 – September 8, 1930) was an American politician and attorney who served as the mayor of Austin, Texas{{cite journal|journal=Commission Government in American Cities|editor=Clyde Lyndon King|publisher=American Academy of Political and Social Science|year=1911|title=The Commission as It Works in Austin, Texas|first=A. P.|last=Wooldridge|pages=906}} from 1909 to 1919.
Biography
Wooldridge was born in New Orleans on April 13, 1847, to Absalom and Julia Webber Davis.{{Cite journal |last=Overbeck |first=Ruth Ann |date=1964 |title=Alexander Penn Wooldridge |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30241957 |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=317–349 |jstor=30241957 |issn=0038-478X}} After graduating from the University of Virginia,{{cite journal|journal=The Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia|title=Our Alma Mater in Texas and the Southwest|first=Thomas|last=Fritz-Hugh|date=May 1896|publisher=Faculty of the University of Virginia|location=Charlottesville}} he became a professor of physical science at Bethel College. In 1872, Wooldridge moved to Austin, Texas, where he became an attorney.{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/wooldridge-alexander-penn|title=Wooldridge, Alexander Penn (1847–1930)|date=1976|last=Elizabeth Smyrl|first=Vivian}}
In the early 1890s, he led the campaign to build the Austin Dam across the Colorado River; the dam failed in a flood in 1900. Wooldridge was the president of Austin's City National Bank in 1896 and also served as the first President of the Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District. He is sometimes called "The Father of Public Education in Austin."[https://www.flickr.com/photos/austinist/484219083/ AP Wooldridge sur Flickr : partage de photos !] In 1909, he was elected as Mayor of Austin. During his tenure, the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 occurred. At the height of the epidemic, the city passed an ordinance closing the state university, all public and private schools, and all churches for a period of 30 days.[http://www.mochaonline.org/InfluenzaFullArticle.pdf "The 1918 Influenza Epidemic"]{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, retrieved 2012-03-08 He retired from the position in 1919.{{Cite web |title=History of Mayors {{!}} AustinTexas.gov |url=https://www.austintexas.gov/department/history-mayors |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=www.austintexas.gov}}
Wooldridge died on September 8, 1930, in Austin, Texas. he is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.{{cite web|url=https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Cemeteries/Cemeteries%20Master%20Plan/3-Austin%20Cemeteries%20Master%20Plan%208-2015%20Ch4-web.pdf|title=Chapter 4 Oakwood Cemetery|date=2015|access-date=February 15, 2024|website=www.austintexas.gov}}
Personal life
On September 18, 1874, Wooldridge married Ellen Waggener. They had seven children together. After her death, he married Nellie Wylie Holden on July 9, 1917. Wooldridge Park and Wooldridge Elementary School are named after him.
References
External links
- {{Find a Grave|6995}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooldridge, A. P.}}
Category:Politicians from New Orleans
Category:University of Virginia alumni
Category:Mayors of Austin, Texas
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