Ann Marek Papers

Ann Elizabeth Armstrong Marek (1935-2010). Born in New York and reared in Chicago, Ann Marek has been an adopted Texan since 1958. Ann Marek is no stranger to community involvement – in the third grade, she organized her class to sell World War II savings stamps and later when early married life landed her family in Dodge City, Kansas she assisted with a city fund-raising drive yielding over $100,000 to build Front Street, a major tourist attraction. When Mr. Marek’s job brought the family to Fort Worth, Texas, Ms. Marek broadened her acting career and continued her civic activism. She had studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and played many roles in Fort Worth theaters including the lead role of Sally Skull in “The Big Thicket” in 1969. With a fondness for politics, Ms. Marek found time to return to college where she received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her measures to improve the Fort Worth community included a term on the City of Fort Worth utilities board; working with a group of local women and men to establish a Child Welfare Unit and Juvenile Detention Center; serving on the Community Action Agency board of directors; fighting local racism; serving as chairwoman of the Central Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association; fundraising for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; and publicly advocating building the Fort Worth East Regional Library. Ms. Marek also directed the 1976 Tarrant County Jimmy Carter presidential campaign; and ran for Tarrant County Commissioner and Fort Worth City Council.