Dona Spring
{{short description|Green Party politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Dona Spring
| birth_date = January 22, 1953
| death_date = July 13, 2008 (aged 55)
| office = Member of the Berkeley City Council
from the 4th district
| termstart = 1992
| termend = July 13, 2008
| successor = Jesse Arreguín
| birth_place = Plentywood, Montana, U.S.
| alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley (BA)
| death_place = Berkeley, California, U.S.
| party = Green
}}
Dona Spring (January 22, 1953 – July 13, 2008) was an American activist and politician. She served on the Berkeley City Council from 1992 until her death in 2008.
Early life and education
Spring was born in Plentywood, Montana. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with honors, earning a bachelor's degree in anthropology and psychology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-Councilwoman-Dona-Spring-dies-3204403.php|title=Berkeley Councilwoman Dona Spring dies|last1=Jones|first1=Carolyn|last2=Writer|first2=Chronicle Staff|date=July 15, 2008|website=SFGate|access-date=April 29, 2020}}
Career
Spring worked for many years as an activist devoted to causes such as disability rights, seniors, at-risk youth, poverty, the environment and animal rights. She used a wheelchair for much of her adult life due to rheumatoid arthritis.Moll, Lucy [https://books.google.com/books?id=lAcAAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Dona+Spring%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA46 "Who Profits?"], Vegetarian Times. May 1989. P. 46.{{cite book |last= Taylor|first= Sunaura|author-link= Sunaura Taylor|date= 2017|title= Beast of Burden: Animal and disability liberation|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=akc2DgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Dona+Spring%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT114|location= |publisher= The New Press|page= Chapter 16|isbn=978-1620971291}}
Spring was elected to the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee in 1986 and to the county's Green Party County Council in 1990.
Spring was elected to the Berkeley City Council in 1992 as a member of the Green Party of California. She served on the Alameda County Recycling Board from 1997 to 2001, including a stint as its president in 2001. She was elected to her fifth, and last, term to the Berkeley City Council in 2006 with 72% of votes cast. Her last act as a member of the city council was to pledge support for the tree-sitters during the University of California, Berkeley oak grove controversy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-07-17/full_text|title=Full Text of All Articles The Berkeley Daily Planet|website=www.berkeleydailyplanet.com|access-date=2020-04-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.berkeleycitizen.org/oakgrove/oakgrove7.htm|title=Updates on Memorial Oak Grove Siege|website=www.berkeleycitizen.org|access-date=2020-04-29}}
Spring was succeeded in the City Council by Jesse Arreguín, who Spring had encouraged to run for office previously.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Mayor/Home/The_Mayor_s_Biography.aspx|title=The Mayor's Biography - City of Berkeley, CA|website=www.cityofberkeley.info|access-date=2020-04-29}}
Death
Spring died in 2008, aged 55, at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, after being diagnosed with pneumonia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-07-10/article/30565?headline=Dona-Spring-An-Appreciation|title=Dona Spring: An Appreciation. Category: Editorials from The Berkeley Daily Planet|website=www.berkeleydailyplanet.com|access-date=2020-04-29}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-07-10/article/30559?headline=Berkeley-Mourns-Loss-of-Dona-Spring-Fierce-Advocate-for-the-Environment-Justice-and-Human-and-Animal-Rights|title=Berkeley Mourns Loss of Dona Spring, Fierce Advocate for the Environment, Justice, and Human and Animal Rights. Category: Extra from The Berkeley Daily Planet|website=www.berkeleydailyplanet.com|access-date=2020-04-29}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cagreens.org/greenfocus/spring_09/spring.html|title=Green Focus {{!}} Dona Spring|website=www.cagreens.org|access-date=2020-04-29}} In July 2008, filmmakers Lindsay Vurek and Valerie Trost released a documentary film about Spring's life, Courage in Life & Politics - The Dona Spring Story.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Dona}}
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:21st-century American women
Category:Activists from California
Category:California city council members
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California
Category:American disability rights activists
Category:Green Party of the United States officeholders
Category:People from Sheridan County, Montana
Category:Politicians from Berkeley, California
Category:Women city councillors in California