Kay B. Crooker Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2010-016

Staff Only

Crooker’s papers include documents relating to zoning ordinances, city planning minutes, activities of subdivisions, news clippings on development issues, City Council speakers, and organizations such as Citizens for Zoning. Arrangement follows as closely as possible Crooker’s own organizational schema, with adaptations sufficient to facilitate the third-party exploration of the collection. Collection includes approximately 6 linear feet of materials. Materials cover the period from roughly the 1950s to mid-1990s.

Dates

1951-1996
Majority of material found within 1987-1996

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

6.0 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Biographical Information

Kay B. Crooker was a professional and volunteer advocate for Houston’s quality of life for more than thirty years. Appointed to the City of Houston Planning and Zoning Commission in 1984 and reappointed by five different Mayors, Crooker retired in 2008. As a former president of Scenic Houston (a collection in the Houston History Archives) and board member with The Park People (Houston History Archives), Katy Prairie Conservancy, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Quality of Life Coalition, and Trees for Houston, Crooker was key in the development of Houston’s Tree and Shrub ordinance . Crooker was a strong advocate for zoning and was active in the most recent, unsuccessful campaign to enact zoning in Houston in 1993.

As a neighborhood activist, Crooker became the first woman to join the Tanglewood Homeowners Association’s board of directors. Then the board elected her president of the board. Subsequently, Crooker founded the Houston Homeowners Association and served for three years as its president.

Crooker expressed her philosophy of activism when she signed on with “1000 Friends of Houston – Houston deserves to be a better place to live.” As a dedicated activist, Crooker worked devotedly to fulfill this claim for Houston’s future. Mrs. Crooker died on August 20, 2012. Her endless contributions and hard work for the city of Houston left a trail of great outcomes and her personal imprint on civic duty.