Wisely, Karen Zapata, Joel Perryman, Lorraine

Description

Lorraine Perryman was born in Pampa, Texas in 1953, but her family eventually settled in Odessa, Texas. She grew up as a liberal in conservative Odessa as a way to contradict her father, who was a staunch Republican conservative. After high school, she attended the University of Texas at Austin. She came back to Odessa in 1979 to became the heed of communications of Ector County ISD while it went through desegregation. Afterwards, she started her own public relations business and briefly became a news anchor. In the 1980s, Perryman ran for mayor of Odessa but lost. She ran again and became the first female and youngest mayor of Odessa in 1990. Under her tenure, the Odessa City Council voted in single member districts that allowed for better representation for people of color in the city. Perryman has since helped start a rape crises center and battered women’s shelter in Odessa and has worked for nonprofits to better the city’s schools.8 video recordings (1 hr., 52 min., 39 sec.) : sd., col. ; digital

Record Contributed By

TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library

Record Harvested From

The Portal to Texas History