Little is known about Juanita Goodson except that she was dedicated to improve what she saw as the deterioration of the 1500-1700 blocks of Newfield Lane, Austin, TX after MoPac (State Highway Loop No. 1) was built in 1970s. She purchased her home at 1507 Newfield Lane in the early 1950s and was upset that the neighborhood had become "run down with sanitary problems, maintenance problems, communes, youth hostels and a lack of family neighborhood atmosphere." In the late 1970s she embarked on a letter writing campaign to both the City of Austin and the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation to try to improve the conditions in the neighborhood.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence written by Goodson in 1978 and 1979 to various officials with the City of Austin and the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation. She was requesting that officials consider moving the MoPac on-ramp and erecting a sound barrier on the side of MoPac to help with the traffic and noise on Newfield Lane. Also included are the letters written to her in response to her letters and petitions. Responders include Carole Keeton McClellan (City of Austin Mayor), Ann Richards (Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 3), Joe S. Ternus (Urban Transportation Department) and Betty Himmelblau (Austin Councilperson).
In addition to letters about the effects of MoPac on her neighborhood there are letters written to the City of Austin Chief of Police, her councilperson Betty Himmelblau and the Urban Transportation Department about illegal parking and the garbage generated by a rental house on Newfield Lane. Supporting her complaints is a series of photographs. She also, in 1979 and 1980, wrote letters accompanied by photographs to request the repaving of Newfield Lane. Lastly, there are 2 letters written to Goodson apparently in response to correspondence she sent to The Attorney General of Texas and Gonzalo Barrientos in reference to an issue she had with a company called Trim & Swim.
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Donated by the daughter of Juanita Goodson.
Juanita S. Goodson Papers (AR.2006.042). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.
Donor #: DO/2006/114
Donation Date: 2007
Finding aid created and encoded by Molly Hults/2009.