McCalla, Maline

Austin native Maline McCalla has dedicated much of her life to volunteering for a wide variety of Austin organizations. She was born Mary Ailine Gilbert on August 7th, 1938 in St. David’s Hospital-a hospital co-founded by her grandfather, Dr. Joe Gilbert. In 1960, McCalla graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English literature. While in college, McCalla received summer fellowships to study at the Universities of Chile and Mexico, and after graduation she spent nine months studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. In a 1989 interview with the Austin American-Statesman, McCalla says that these scholarships motivated her to become even more involved in volunteer work. McCalla may also have been inspired by her mother, Ailine Burch Gilbert, who was herself a committed volunteer in the Austin area. After her studies in France, McCalla went back to UT Austin for a master’s degree in Romance Languages, specializing in French. While in graduate school, Maline married Dudley McCalla, a lawyer and fellow Austinite. They were married in the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, a church that Maline’s father, Dr. Joe Thorne Gilbert, helped establish. McCalla graduated from her master’s program at UT Austin in 1963, soon after the birth of her first son, Dudley Junior. During the next five years, Maline had two more children, Joe Gilbert and Andrew Harris; worked as a part-time model; and volunteered for the Junior League and several other local organizations.

Despite her many volunteer activities and busy family life, McCalla was also a dedicated dancer and an artist. A ballet dancer for over sixty years, McCalla performed in supporting roles for the Austin Ballet Theatre through at least age 51. She was a committed activist for the performing arts in Austin, serving on the boards of both the Austin Ballet Theatre and the Paramount Theatre. She also acted as an adviser to the American Company for Deaf Dancers (which become known as the Yacov Sharir group). McCalla’s art became locally recognized during the mid-1960s, when she displayed her paintings on papier-mâché screens at the Laguna Gloria Fiesta and the Austin’s Women’s Club. Later, her hand-painted tiles adorned the kitchen of Lady Bird Johnson’s Austin home, and her drawings enlivened the pages of her sister-in-law’s cookbook published in 2001. Although very little of her art is represented in this collection, a few doodles and handwritten notes hint at McCalla’s artistic abilities and personality.

Following her first volunteer work at the city level for the Library Commission, McCalla and Patrick J. Nugent were appointed co-chairpersons of the Austin Bicentennial Commission in 1973, where they were in charge of planning a series of activities throughout the Bicentennial year to commemorate the nation’s milestone birthday. After the success of these celebrations, McCalla was asked to help plan the observance of the Texas Sesquicentennial in 1986. She served on the Austin Sesquicentennial Commission, which oversaw all aspects of the yearlong celebration, and was appointed the chairman of the March 2nd Celebration Committee, which organized a week of festivities commemorating the independence of Texas. For the City of Austin’s Sesquicentennial in 1989, McCalla and former Mayor Frank Cooksey were appointed as co-chairs of the Austin 150 Commission and coordinated the year’s festivities.

In addition to her work for the performing arts and civic celebrations, McCalla volunteered for a number of organizations not represented in this collection. For example, McCalla was a board member or advisor for the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, the Elisabet Ney Museum, the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, the Natural Science Center, the National Wildflower Research Center, and the Gorilla Fund (in California). McCalla also served on numerous committees at UT Austin, including various fine arts committees and the University Centennial Commission.

In recognition of McCalla’s extraordinary amount of volunteer work, the Austin Board of Realtors selected her as Austin’s Most Worthy Citizen of 1989. McCalla’s volunteer efforts have continued over the years-in 2010, for example, she coordinated the 50th reunion of her undergraduate class at UT Austin.

From the guide to the Maline McCalla Papers AR. 1991. 012., 1973-1989, 1973-1976; 1985-1989, (Austin History Center, Austin Public Library)