Sinkin, Fay

William (Bill) and Fay Sinkin, both known for their longstanding commitment to civic issues, married in 1942, made their home in San Antonio, and raised two sons. William is recognized for his involvement in civic, banking and community activities that promote small business. Fay is recognized for her community activism, especially in the areas of public health and water issues.

William Sinkin was born in San Antonio in 1913. After earning a business degree in 1934 from the University of Texas, he began working at his father's wholesale clothing manufacturing company and later became a successful banker. Throughout his life, Mr. Sinkin has worked to improve the community by opening opportunities for those traditionally denied. In 1946, he co-founded Goodwill Industries in San Antonio to help those with physical and mental challenges find work. He was involved in public housing issues and chaired the board of the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) from 1949-1953. He also conscientiously worked to increase the participation of minorities in local governmental agencies. He hired the first woman executive director of SAHA. He is known for his role as an advocate and catalyst for minority business development. When Mr. Sinkin bought control of Texas State Bank in the late 1960s, the bank started an aggressive program of minority representation and small business lending.

Sinkin's interest in improving the community continued through the 1960s when he undertook a major role in organizing HemisFair, serving as the first president of San Antonio Fair, Inc., the corporate body for the San Antonio World's Fair. HemisFair, held in 1968, proved to be a momentous event for the city's economy and history. Sinkin also founded Urban Coalition of San Antonio in the 1960s, a non-profit research and advocacy organization that works with low-income white communities and communities of color to address community, social, and economic issues. The Coalition works in the areas of education, employment, health, hunger and poverty, welfare reform, immigration, issues of race, technical assistance and capacity building. In 1968, Sinkin served on the planning committee for dedicating the Bexar County Hospital, and was Vice Chairman of Bexar County Hospital District. He was also dedicated to addressing issues concerning the Jewish community. In 1976, Sinkin led a private delegation of San Antonio Jewish leaders to meet with Mexico's President Echerrveria to discuss Mexican-Jewish relations after Echeverria endorsed a United Nations General Assembly resolution that equated Zionism with racism. The goodwill talks stressed the importance of good relations between the U.S. Jewish community and Mexico to promote economic and cultural ties.

Sinkin has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Brotherhood Award by the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1966, and banker of the year by the Small Business Administration and Independent Bankers Association in 1984. His interests in later years focused on city/county governance. Sinkin retired in 1987, and in 1988 he signed on with UTSA as a financial consultant and opened his own consulting firm, William R. Sinkin and Associates.

Originally from New York, Fay Sinkin earned a bachelors degree from Syracuse University. Upon moving to San Antonio, she became active in addressing community needs especially in the areas of public health and water issues. As president of the League of Women Voters in 1947 at the age of 28, Sinkin pushed for the hiring of a city sanitary engineer to develop a sewer system. In the 1950s she was the first to raise money for a public television station, she organized and served as first president of Visiting Nurse Association, and was involved in the first effort to raise money for the Mothers March on Polio. She was the first woman to serve on the Board of Health in San Antonio, and the first woman to serve on a grand jury in Bexar County. In 1953 she was named Express/News Woman of the Year. From 1963-1969 she served as a recruiter-consultant for minorities for the U.S. State Department.

When the League of Women Voters voiced the need for a special organization dedicated to the protection of the aquifer, Fay organized and headed the Aquifer Protection Association (APA). In this role, Sinkin made the Edwards Aquifer a household term in the mid 1970s as she rallied the community to successfully oppose development of a major shopping mall at the 1604 and 281 N. intersection over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. In 1983 Fay Sinkin was the first woman to win a six-year term as a board of director on the Edwards Underground Water District (EUWD). EUWD was created in 1959 by the Texas Legislature to protect the Edwards Aquifer. During her term, Sinkin introduced Xeriscaping to San Antonio and was responsible for funding the leak detection program of the EUWD. Sinkin opposed surface water development, including the controversial Applewhite reservoir project, to supplement the underground water supply. The Applewhite project was to be built on the Medina River and be San Antonio's first surface water supply to supplement the Edward's Aquifer. Sinkin instead advocated research and water conservation. The Applewhite Reservoir controversy came to a head in a 1994 special election when voters rejected completion of the Applewhite Reservoir as part of Plan 2050, a water plan for the city.

After Sinkin's term on the EUWD ended in 1989, she formed the Edwards Aquifer Preservation Trust. This private group worked to purchase land on the recharge zone, particularly the San Antonio Ranch area, to protect it from over-development and environmental damage. She also served as a member of the Trans-Texas Advisory Committee. Fay Sinkin has been recognized with numerous awards for her contributions, including San Antonio Women's Celebration and Hall of Fame induction in 1985, Who's Who of American Women, and Women in Communication Inc. Headline Award in 1989.

Sources:

San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 9, 1983, p. 1-E. Edwards Underground Water District, Box 5, Folder 8.

San Antonio Express-News, Dec. 12, 1982, Applewhite reservoir slides into 2nd phase, Box 5, Folder 8.

San Antonio Light, March 24, 1985, Faye Sinkin, Box 5, Folder 8.

Urban Coalition web site at http://www.urbancoalition.org/, accessed October 17, 2002.

William Sinkin narrative resume, undated, Box 4, Folder 9.

From the guide to the William and Fay Sinkin Papers MS 64., 1928-2008, (University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections)