Lila Cockrell

Lila May Banks Cockrell
Mayor of San Antonio
In office June 1, 1989 – June 1, 1991
Preceded by	Henry Cisneros
Succeeded by	Nelson W. Wolff
Mayor of San Antonio
In office May 1, 1975 – May 1, 1981
Preceded by	Charles L. Becker
Succeeded by	Henry Cisneros
San Antonio City Councilwoman
In office 1973–1975
San Antonio City Councilwoman
In office 1963–1970
Personal details
Born	January 19, 1922 Fort Worth, Texas
Spouse(s)	Sidney Earl Cockrell Jr. (-1988 his death)
Children	Two daughters
Alma mater	Southern Methodist University
Military service
Service/branch	WAVES
Rank	Ensign
Battles/wars	World War II

Lila Cockrell Theater in San Antonio, Texas

Lila May Banks Cockrell (born January 19, 1922) is a former mayor of San Antonio, Texas. During World War II, she served in the WAVES branch of the United States Navy. She served as President of the Dallas and San Antonio chapters of the League of Women Voters during the 1950s.^[1][2]

San Antonio city mayor

After serving for a decade on the city council, including her 1969 service as the city's first woman mayor Pro Tem, Cockrell was elected in 1975 to the first of four two-year terms as Mayor of San Antonio. At the time of her inauguration, San Antonio's population gave her the status of the mayor over the largest American city being governed by a woman. She is often listed as the first woman in the United States to be elected mayor of a major metropolis. However, Bertha Knight Landes was mayor of Seattle 1926–1928.^[3] Cockrell's first three terms ran consecutively 1975–1981. At the end of her third term, she chose not to run because of the illness of her husband Sidney Earl Cockrell Jr.^[4] She was succeeded by Henry Cisneros. Widowed in 1988, she was elected to her fourth term as mayor in 1989 when Cisneros left office.^[5]

Retirement

After retiring from political office, Cockrell served on many municipal commissions and civic boards.^[6] In 2013, she retired as president of the San Antonio Parks Foundation, a position she had held since 1998.^[7]

Cockrell is a member of the Hot Wells Conservancy Board, which is working with the Bexar County Commissioners Court to restore the former Hot Wells hotel, spa, and bathhouses, which flourished in the first two decades of the 20th century. The spa is located along the San Antonio River in the southside of San Antonio.^[8]

Honors

• The Lila Cockrell Theatre, named in her honor, is part of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in Downtown San Antonio. Also, a meeting room at the Convention Center directly below the Theatre is named the Mayor Cockrell Room in her honor. ^[9]
• She was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1984.^[10]

See also

• Timeline of San Antonio, 1960s-1990s

References

1. "Lila Cockrell Records" (PDF). Municipal Archives and Records. City of San Antonio. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
3. Stein, Alan J (March 1, 2000). "Bertha Landes is elected mayor of Seattle on March 9, 1926.". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
4. Ivins, Molly (2010). Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?. New York: Vintage eBooks. p. 203,204. ISBN 978-0-3074-3441-8.
5. Petty, Kathleen (March 29, 2013). "Lila Cockrell Interview". San Antonio Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
6. "Lila Cockrell" (PDF). San Antonio Parks Foundation. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
7. Petty, Kathleen (April 2013). "Lila Cockrell The 91-year-old former mayor retires to write, not slow down". San Antonio Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
8. John W. Gonzalez, "Hot Wells poised to spring alive again: County OKs first phase of improvements for new park", San Antonio Express-News, October 10, 2015, pp. 1, A12
9. "Lila Cockrell Theatre". Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
10. hf/tw-cockrell.asp "Lila May Banks Cockrell" Check |url= value (help). Texas Women's Hall of Fame. Texas Woman's University. Retrieved August 12, 2013.

External links

• Delta Delta Delta Biography
• City of San Antonio's Lila Cockrell Theatre Website
• Interviews with Lila Cockrell, July 25, 1984, July 15, 1994, April 9, 1997, University of Texas at San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures: Oral History Collections, UA 15.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.