Aline B. Carter

Aline B. Carter (1892–1972) was an American poet and humanitarian, and Poet Laureate of Texas from 1947 through 1949. She also served as a vice president of the Poetry Society of Texas.

Biography Carter's family was well established in San Antonio history, business, and society. The women especially were well-educated, well-traveled, and well-known. Carter received private tutelage until 1913, when she left home to attend Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She also studied the harp at the Boston Conservatory and Eric Pape School of Art.

In 1915, Aline returned to San Antonio after the death of her father, Frank J. Badger, to live with her mother and grandmother in the Eagar House at 434 South Alamo. The following year she married prominent local attorney and former president of the Texas Bar Association Henry Champe Carter. Together, they raised three sons, Henry Champe, Jr., Frank, and David.

Her published works of poetry include Halo of Love and Doubt Not the Dream. The former included illustrated hand drawings by Aline. Additionally, she wrote a manuscript for a historical novel based on the life of her grandmother, Sarah Riddle Eagar. This manuscript, entitled Light Beyond the Hills, was never published and remains with the University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections. She also taught astronomy classes at the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

Known as the "White Angel" because of the white organdy dresses she often wore, Carter was a great humanitarian. She taught Sunday School for many years and was a member to the St. Mark's Episcopal Church. For over forty years she hosted a Christmas party for the Protestant Children's Home orphanage at her home on Taylor Street. Her work with inmates at the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center and Bexar County Jail, and patients at the San Antonio State Hospital, was well known and appreciated. She also established the Aline B. Carter Peace Prize for Aspiring Poets. It was the first consecrated episcopal church built on the island due to the destruction from the 1919 Hurricane.