Sally Raye Stevens Shipman: Advocate for Community and Homelessness (1938–2007)

Sally Raye Stevens Shipman, neighborhood organizer, Austin city council member, and advocate for the homeless, was born on March 23, 1938, in Beaumont, Texas, to Frank Kenneth Stevens and Dorothy Rawlings (Bodin) Stevens. She grew up in Beaumont where her father worked as a manager for a grocery company. She attended Beaumont High School and graduated in 1956. She continued her education at the University of Texas at Austin, where she received the University of Texas Daughters of the American Revolution scholarship in 1958; she earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1960.

Sally Raye Stevens married Bob Wayne Shipman in Fort Worth on August 6, 1960. The couple had three children—Susan, Mark and Sarah. They lived in Fort Worth for a brief time before the family established residency in Austin. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Shipman became an important neighborhood organizer for the Tarrytown community. She petitioned the city council for the construction of sidewalks in the neighborhood so that children could get safely to Casis Elementary School. The city’s refusal sparked her interest in local politics.

Environmental concerns and neighborhood problems led Shipman back to the University of Texas where she earned a master’s degree in community planning. Her record of service to the city of Austin started in 1974 as a chairwoman of the Austin Building Standards Commission. In 1977 she served on the Austin Planning Commission as vice chair, a position she held until 1982. In 1983 Shipman was elected to the Austin City Council. She served in this body until 1990, winning two re-elections in 1985 and 1987. In 1988 her colleagues elected her mayor pro tem.

As a councilwoman, Shipman’s main concerns included community planning, neighborhood needs, and environmental protection. One of her main initiatives was the creation of the Capitol-view corridors, a set of ordinances that prevented views of the Capitol from being obstructed by tall buildings. Shipman also protected neighborhoods and environmentally sensitive zones from commercial development through stronger zoning. She participated in a special committee that wrote new protective standards regarding Lake Austin that became law under the Lake Austin Shoreline Standards of 1983.

Preservation of endangered species in Austin became a central issue for Shipman. Heeding the call of local environmental organizations such as the Austin Sierra Club, Texas Organization for Endangered Species, and others, Shipman supported new ordinance proposals to protect native species such as the black-capped vireo and the golden-cheeked warbler. She also opposed mining interests. In 1990 she cast a crucial vote against Freeport-McMoRan, a firm that sought permission to build in the Barton Creek watershed. Other initiatives Shipman advocated during the 1980s included increasing city fees for permission to block streets and sidewalks during construction projects; sponsoring a bill to ban distribution of tobacco on highways, sidewalks, and other public thoroughfares; and requesting some type of child-care assistance for employees from businesses in the city. Colleagues and social activists credited Shipman’s work in the city council as reinvigorating Austin’s environmental movement.

During her sixteen years of service as a public servant, Shipman drew recognition and praise for her commitment to the city of Austin from several grassroots organizations. Among the most prominent groups to endorse the councilwoman’s political career were the Austin Environmental Coalition, United Austin Neighborhood Coalition, Black Voter Action Project, Austin Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, and different affiliations of Austin Democrats. Shipman, who served on the board of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 1985, was honored that year by the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association for her outstanding service as a community planner. The former neighborhood organizer also found time to teach at St. Edwards University and at Austin Community College during her public service to the city.

In 1990 Shipman moved from Austin to Houston for her husband’s job with the Gilbane Building Company. That year she became the executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston, a nonprofit organization focused on the prevention and ending of homelessness. Her administrative and political acumen secured millions of federal dollars for local agencies. Under Shipman’s leadership the state of Texas received $44 million in 1995 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Almost half of the awarded funds went to the Coalition for the Homeless in Houston.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development became the next destinations in Shipman’s professional career as she left the Houston-based nonprofit to serve as a regional director of these federal agencies in 1998. During her time in the federal government she coordinated policies to deal with issues of homelessness in cities of Texas and other surrounding states. She also assisted forty seven local governments with developing ten-year plans to end chronic homelessness. She remained connected to academia and taught at Houston Community College and authored several publications on government, city planning, and democracy.

Shipman founded and was part of several organizations throughout her career such as the Austin Parent-Child Association, West Neighborhood Group, League of Women Voters, American Planning Association, and State Education Foundation. She also served as a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman’s neighborhood section. She was active in the Rotary Club of Houston, River Oaks Business Women’s Exchange Club, and Leadership Texas.  

Sally Raye Stevens Shipman died of leukemia on May 28, 2007, in Houston, Texas. Her funeral was held at University Presbyterian Church in Austin, and she was buried in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery. Colleagues and friends remembered her as a “trusted mentor” who instilled enthusiasm in the people and always listened attentively to citizens’ concerns.