| Wilhelmina Ruth Delco | |
| Office: | Speaker pro tempore of the Texas House of Representatives |
| Term Start: | January 17, 1991 |
| Term End: | 1993 |
| Predecessor: | Michael D. McKinney |
| Successor: | D. R. Uher |
| State House1: | Texas |
| District1: | 50th |
| Term Start1: | January 11, 1983 |
| Term End1: | January 10, 1995 |
| Predecessor1: | René Orlando Oliveira |
| Successor1: | Dawnna Dukes |
| State House2: | Texas |
| District2: | 37-1, 37-D |
| Term Start2: | January 14, 1975 |
| Term End2: | January 11, 1983 |
| Predecessor2: | Larry Bales |
| Successor2: | Irma Lerma Rangel |
| Birth Name: | Wilhelmina Ruth Fitzgerald |
| Birth Date: | 16 July 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Children: | 4 |
| Education: | Fisk University (BA) |
Wilhelmina Ruth Delco (née Fitzgerald; born July 16, 1929) is an American politician who served in the Texas House of Representatives. She was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.
On July 16, 1929, Delco was born as Wilhelmina Ruth Fitzgerald in Chicago, Illinois. Delco's parents were Juanita and William P. Fitzgerald.Delco attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School.
In 1950, Delco earned a BA in sociology at Fisk University.
In 1968, Delco was elected to the board of trustees for the Austin Independent School District, becoming the first African American elected to public office in Austin.[1]
Delco was elected to the House of Representatives for Travis County in 1974 and served ten terms in the legislature. From 1979 to 1991, she was chair of the Higher Education Committee for the House. From 1991 to 1993, she was speaker "pro tempore" for the House of Representatives. She retired from the legislature in 1995.[2]
She has been chair of the board of trustees for Huston-Tillotson College and adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin with the Community College Leadership Program.[3] She has been chair of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity of the United States Department of Education.[4]
In 1993, she received the James Bryant Conant Award.[5]
Delco's husband is Exalton A. Delco Jr., whom she met in the cafeteria while attending Fisk University.[6] In 1952, Delco and her husband moved to Austin, Texas.