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O'Neil Ford collection

 Collection
Identifier: FORD

Staff Only

Scope and Content of the Collection

Papers, plans, photographic prints and negatives, slides, exhibit boards, drawings, and sketches reveal the life and career of O'Neil Ford (1905-1982), a prominent architect in the southwestern United States whose work also extended nationally and internationally. The collection demonstrates the origins and practice of Ford's dedication to native architectural forms and hand craft work, historic preservation, innovative design, and his tireless advocacy of education, particularly in the arts.

Drawings (1886, 1920-1980, undated) in the collection were received from the firm Ford Powell & Carson and include all projects in which Ford was involved prior to the establishment of that firm in 1967. Two separate databases index this material: one for drawings received into the collection and another for pre-1967 projects whose drawings were not received by the Archive. Approximately 8275 sheets representing 480 projects were received by the Archive; those drawings not received represent 164 projects.

Fifty-four linear feet of papers and photographic material represent Ford's personal and professional life, including his service to several institutions of higher learning as professor of architecture and his active participation in organizations related to architecture, education, and the arts in general. Due to his involvement in these groups, the greatest bulk of material lies in his professional papers (1864-1888, 1933-1983, undated) which exist outside of his work for any architectural firm. Most prominent among the organizations are the National Council on the Arts, to which Ford was appointed for the term 1968-1974 by President Lyndon Johnson, and the National Endowment for the Arts, to whom the Council makes funding recommendations. Ford's other important governmental appointments represented here in much less detail include the U.S. Foreign Buildings Operations and General Services Administration. Well-documented is Ford's participation in professional architectural associations and historic preservation groups. Professional correspondence (1933-1982, undated) is extensive and demonstrates Ford's wide and varied professional relationships not only with architects but also with individuals in academia and in the organizations with which he was involved, with potential or established clients, and with members of the community who came to know Ford through his professional activities, architectural and otherwise. A large quantity of professional reference files (1864-1888, 1937-1982, undated) comprises clippings and other printed material gathered by Ford on architectural matters, including documents relating to the Youtz-Slick lift slab method of construction.

Among Ford's personal papers (1926-1928, 1940-1982, undated) are biographical documents including résumés and information regarding Ford's death, personal correspondence (1940-1982, undated) with family and friends, and papers and photographs relating to travel (1957-1981, undated) which Ford undertook for architectural research and personal pleasure. Approximately 7000 slides taken during travel remain as yet unprocessed.

Office records (1904, 1909, 1939-1982, undated) comprise records created and gathered by architectural firms of which Ford was a partner or principal. Included are administrative and financial records, correspondence, publicity clippings of completed projects, and reference materials.

Project records (1886, 1931-1982, undated) include files (1938-1982, undated) and photographs (1931-1975, undated) of projects undertaken by Ford during his architectural career operating in the offices of Ford and Swank (1938-1941), Ford and Rogers (1946-1953), O'Neil Ford and Associates (1953-1966), and Ford Powell & Carson (1967-1982). Documents in the files include correspondence, notes, sketches, and office records relating to the project. Several project lists (1977-1982) of Ford Powell & Carson are present, as well as specifications dating from the firm of Ford and Swank.

Papers (1930-1960, undated) created and gathered by Samuel B. Zisman (1908-1970), architect and friend of O'Neil Ford document Zisman's military, professional, and academic career. For other materials relating to Zisman, see also, Samuel B. Zisman: An Inventory of his Papers, 1937-1970, a separate collection of the Alexander Architectural Archives.

A small amount of material (1927-1978, undated) relating to Lynn Ford (1908-1978), brother of O'Neil Ford and craftsman mainly in wood and metal, includes personal and professional papers consisting largely of correspondence and records of work projects he undertook.

Unprocessed material, both personal and project related, in the O'Neil Ford collection includes papers, sketches, photographic material (including over 8,000 slides, most of which are partially processed), audiotape recordings, and objects ranging from awards and degrees to product samples and tools.

Dates

  • Creation: 1864-1983

Creator

Policies Governing Use and Access

This collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using archival materials. As all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site, advance notice of at least three working days is required for retrieval. Certain items may require additional time for flattening or humidifying before they can be viewed. Access is by appointment only. Please contact the archives' reference staff for further information.

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasions of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person).

The Alexander Architectural Archives operate in accordance with applicable federal or state laws and regulations, providing unrestricted access to university records not covered by state and federal right to privacy acts.

The Alexander Architectural Archives, The University of Texas Libraries, and The University of Texas at Austin, assume no responsibility for infringement of literary property rights and copyright or for liability to any person for defamation or invasion of privacy that results from a researcher's use of collections.

Researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless The University of Texas at Austin, and their officers, employees, and agents from and against all suits, claims, actions, and expenses arising out of use of collections held by the libraries. Please alert staff if anything inappropriate is found during research.

Copyright interests in this collection may not have been transferred to the University of Texas. Researchers assume full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply. Additionally, the public use of material must be cited. See citation information below.

Biographical Sketch of O'Neil Ford

"Born in the town of Pink Hill, Otha Neil Ford (1905-1982), attended an elementary school in nearby Sherman with a progressive curriculum influenced by the arts-and-crafts movement. From the first grade on, he learned to draw and to build what he drew. Following his father's death in a railroad accident, Neil became the family breadwinner at age 12. To obtain work, he developed a flair for persuasive showmanship, one of many aspects of the complex Fordian persona that he was to invent as he progressed through his long and extraordinarily influential life.

"The family moved to Denton, where, during his high school years, Neil haunted the libraries at the local colleges. In 1924, he entered what was then North Texas State Teachers College, a block from his home, He did well in manual training and Shakespeare, the subjects that interested him, but was forced to leave college after two years. His only formal professional training was a basic architecture course from the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pa. Ford's lack of university education became part of his mystique.

"In 1926, Ford entered the Dallas office or architect David R. Williams, where he served an apprenticeship. Flamboyant and often outrageous, Williams had "star quality" and, quite naturally, was Ford's first role model and mentor. Williams responded to Neil's abilities as a designer. Working together they produced a number of houses in North Central Texas that were distinguished by the integration of architecture and crafts and the use of native materials. The Hugh Drane residence in Corsicana is a notable example. Williams closed his practice in the early '30s; as deputy administrator of the National Youth Administration from 1936 to 1941, and in influential posts with other federal depression-recovery agencies, he was able to direct commissions to Ford.

"Ford formed his first viable partnership in 1936 with Arch Swank. Significant early jobs for the Dallas office of Ford and Swank were the Little Chapel in the Woods on the campus of Texas Women's University, constructed by National Youth Administration trainees and college art students; and a house on St. Joseph's Island for oilman Sid Richardson.

"Ford's move to San Antonio was precipitated by his work as consulting architect on another NYA project, the restoration of La Villita. He married Wanda Graham in 1940 and settled into the Graham homestead, Willow Way. The house's ambience dramatically influenced what come to be called the Ford style: a mix of worn stone and low-fired bricks, tile floors, and well-crafted wood, united by a lack of pretension.

"In 1946, Ford formed a new partnership with Jerry Rogers that lasted until 1953. Their interest in innovative building systems, such as the Youtz-Slick lift slab process, was put to the test in 1949 when, thanks to William Wurster, another enthusiastic Ford supporter, Ford & Rogers won the commission to design a new campus for Trinity University in San Antonio in association with Bartlett Cocke & Associates. Work at Trinity would span three decades.

"The firm known as O'Neil Ford & Associates was established in 1953 (lasting until 1966), as was Ford's Houston-based partnership with Richard Colley and William Tamminga, which lasted until 1956. From the mid-'50s on, associated architects Ford, Colley & Swank, with planner Samuel B. Zisman, collaborated on a number of projects for Texas Instruments.

"The partnership with Boone Powell and Chris Carson came into being in 1967. Campuses for Skidmore College in New York and the first phase of UT San Antonio (in association with Bartlett Cocke) are examples of the firm's work, as are scores of understated residences including that of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Steves in San Antonio.

"Generations of bright young architects were eager to work for the dynamic Ford. In fact, his best work was done in collaboration with talented young associates who practiced what he preached. And preach he did, tirelessly traveling the lecture circuit. He made himself the grand old man of Texas architecture, simultaneously its eternal naughty boy and its valuable conscience.

"Ford's work was nationally published. Among Ford's honors were his appointment by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to the National Council on the Arts; by David Rockefeller, Jr. in 1975 to the American Council for the Arts in Education; and in 1977 to the advisory panel for federal Foreign Buildings Operations. The first endowed chair in the School of Architecture at UT Austin was named for Ford.

"Until he died in 1982, O'Neil Ford was contentious and ebullient, and he never lost his childlike sense of wonder."

[Source: George, Mary Carolyn Hollers. 1989. O'Neil Ford. Texas Architect 9 (6): 52-3.]

Partial Extent

54 Linear Feet

Partial Extent

8275 drawings

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

O'Neil Ford (1905-1982) was a prominent architect in the southwestern United States whose work also extended nationally and internationally. The collection demonstrates the origins and practice of Ford's dedication to native architectural forms and hand craft work, historic preservation, innovative design, and his tireless advocacy of education, particularly in the arts. Papers, plans, photographic prints and negatives, slides, exhibit boards, drawings, and sketches reveal the life and career of the architect.

Other Finding Aids

Unpublished inventory in archive.

Related Material

Ford, Powell Carson collection , Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Samuel B. Zisman papers , Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Boone Powell collection , Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Arch B. Swank Jr. collection, Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

The Colley Associates Architects and Engineers collection, Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

References by O'Neil Ford

  • Ford, O'Neil. "Texas Idyll." Inland Architect 26.5 (1982): 32-[35]. Notes: O'Neil Ford's architectural history of San Antonio, written while he was stranded in Naples in 1964. Physical Details: photos., ports.
  • Guerra, Henry, and Brooks Martin, O'Neil Ford. "History and development of the Spanish missions in San Antonio." Stained Glass 60.4 (1965-66): 28-34, 39-41; 61.1 (1966) 39-41. Notes: A panel discussion. Physical Details: ill., ports.

References about O'Neil Ford

  • "Houses that research built: Lift-Slab roof floats on six column supports." Architectural Record 117 (1955): 189-197. Physical Details: ill., plans.
  • "New college buildings: 2. Another look at Trinity, the Lift-Slab university." Architectural Forum 102 (1955): 126-141. Physical Details: ill., plans.
  • Dillon, David. The architecture of O'Neil Ford: celebrating place.Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999. Physical Details: ill. (some col.)
  • Peterson, Carolyn. "Vanishing legacy: the Evons House, Ford's ode to stylish living is gone, overrun by suburban development outside San Antonio." Texas Architect 50.5 (2000): 72. Physical Details: ill., photos., drawings, site plans. Notes: Built in 1954. Demolished in 2000.
  • Moorhead, Gerald. "Forgotten Ford." Texas Architect 47.6 (1997): 50-52. Physical Details: drawings, photos., plans. Notes: History of a little-known project, the Presbyterian Pan American School near Kingsville, by O'Neil Ford.. Built between 1957-1976.
  • George, Mary Carolyn Hollers. Mary Carolyn George Papers, 1840-1996.San Antonio: University of Texas at San Antonio, Special Collections and Archives. Collection Inventory.
  • George, Mary Carolyn Hollers. O'Neil Ford, architect.College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1992. Physical Details: ill. (some col.) Notes: Includes bibliographical reference.
  • Welch, Frank. "A day with O'Neil Ford." Texas Architect 42.4 (1992): 48-51. Physical Details: photos. Notes: The author recalls a meeting at Ford's home in the spring of 1979.
  • Good, R. Lawrence. "Modern Texas architecture: in the details." Texas Architect 41.8 (1991): 34-43. Physical Details: det., photos. Notes: Details from buildings by Nicholas Clayton, J. Riely Gordon, David R. Williams, O'Neil Ford, Paul P. Cret, George L. Dahl, Max Levy, Lake/Flato, William F. Stern, Frank Welch, David Richter, and Gary Cunningham.
  • Jenkins, Tom. "Stone villa." Landscape Architecture 81.6 (1991): [36]-37. Physical Details: photos., site plan. Notes: On the grounds of Vickridge, a hilltop home near Castle Pines, Co. Landscape architect: Todd P. Bennitt.
  • Jenkins, Tom. "Primitive grandeur: rocky walls, native plantings and irregular terraces complement a rugged hillside landscape." Garden Design 7.1 (1988): [66]-73. Physical Details: photos. Notes: Vickridge estate, outside of Denver, Colo. Architect: O'Neil Ford. Landscape architects: POD Inc., James Skiera, Lake Flato Architects.
  • Speck, Lawrence. "The inventive '50s: Ford had a better idea." Texas Architect 35.4 (1985): 38-45. Physical Details: photos., plan, secn. Notes: Brief survey of architecture in the 1950s. Features O'Neil Ford's TI Semiconductor Building.
  • George, Gene and Mary Carolyn. "O'Neil Ford's boveda house." Fine Homebuilding no.23 (Oct.-Nov. 1984): 26-31. Physical Details: dets., photos., plan, secn.
  • Speck, Lawrence W. "O'Neil Ford's 'caring campus': his work for Trinity University spanned a quarter century." Architecture: the AIA journal 72.9 (1983): 58-61. Physical Details: photos. Notes: Trinity University buildings, San Antonio, Texas. Architects: O'Neil Ford, Bartlett Cocke. French and Spanish summaries, p.92, 94.
  • Dean, Andrea Oppenheimer. Obituary: "O'Neil Ford." AIA Journal 71.11 (1982): 11,13,16. Physical Details: port.
  • Dillon, David. Obituary: "O'Neil Ford, 1905-1982." Progressive Architecture 63.9 (1982): 30. Physical Details: photos.
  • Swan, Simone. Obituary: "O'Neil Ford, 1905-1982." Skyline Oct. 1982: 8. Physical Details: port.
  • "The unforgettable Mr. Ford: an appreciation." Texas Architect 32.5 (1982): 54-66. Physical Details: photos.(some col.), port.
  • Marlin, William. "O'Neil Ford: musings of a national landmark." Architectural Record 166.8 (1979): 126-136. Physical Details: photos.(some col.), ports. Notes: Profile of the architect and preservationist of San Antonio, Texas.
  • Rogers, Arthur J. "The Ruth Taylor Theatre, Trinity University" [San Antonio, Texas]. Theatre Design and Technology n.26 (Oct. 1971): [24]-26. Physical Details: ill., plans.
  • "H & G's Hallmark House for 1967." House and Garden 131 (1967): 125-[139]. Physical Details: ill., plans. Notes: House for Mr. & Mrs. Marshall Terrell Steves, San Antonio, Texas.
  • "Brick-formed concrete tower." Progressive Architecture 46 (1965): 178-[179]. Physical Details: ill., plan. Notes: T. Frank Murchison Memorial Tower, Trinity University.
  • "VW sales under the trees." Progressive Architecture 45 (1964): 138-143. Physical Details: ill., plan. Notes: Inter-Continental Motors, Inc., San Antonio, Tex.; Ford, O'Neil and Assocs., archts.
  • "One house in a million." House and Garden 123 (1963): 124-[135]. Physical Details: ill., plan. Notes: House for Mr. and Mrs. Dale Carter, Tulsa, Okla.; O'Neil Ford and Assoc., archts.
  • "P/A Tenth Annual Design Awards." Progressive Architecture 44 (1963): whole issue. Physical Details: ill., plans.
  • "House at San Antonio, Texas." Progressive architecture 42 (1961): 122-125. Physical Details: ill., plan.
  • "Contrast in Texas: [two new Dallas houses]". Architectural Forum 109 (1958): 82-87. Physical Details: ill., plan.
  • "An industrial heart for metropolis [midway between Dallas and Fort Worth]." Architectural Forum 116 (1957): 154-159. Physical Details: ill. Notes: Richard Colley, A.B. Swank Jr., S.B. Zisman, and O'Neil Ford, assoc, archts. and land planners; Felix Candela, eng.
  • "Four bright new homes for industry." Architectural Forum 105 (1956): 136-151. Physical Details: ill., plans. Notes: Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, Tex.; O'Neil, Ford & Richard Colley; S.B. Zisman & Stewart King, planning consultants; A.B. Swank , assoc. archt.
  • "'Research village': a housing development in the Chicago area by United States Gypsum." Arts and Architecture 72 (1955): 20-23, 38. Physical Details: ill.
  • "How are architects designing for air conditioning?" House and Home 1 (1952): 89-95. Physical Details: ill., plans. Notes: The vented home, San Antonio, Texas; O'Neill Ford and Jerry Rogers, archts.
  • "O'Neil Ford lectures on slab lifting." Architects' Journal 113 (1951): 51-54. Physical Details: ill., diagrs.
  • "Trinity University [San Antonio, Texas]: starts off a whole series of buildings erected by the 'Youtz-Slick' lift-slab concrete method..." Architectural Forum 95 (1951): 180-183. Physical Details: ill., plan.
  • Zisman, S. B. "The architect and the house, 5. O'Neil Ford of Dallas, Texas." Pencil Points 21 (1940): 196-210. Physical Details: ill., plans.

Processing Information

Processing is not completed. Collection contains unprocessed oversized flat material. Please see the archive's staff for more information.

Collection Processors

Papers and photographic material: Vanessa Kam, Joanna Cook, Molly Wheeler, Rebecca Brooks, Regina Koehler, Monique Daviau, Rebecca Romanchuk

Drawings: Benjamin Allen, Beth Dodd

Related Names

Subject

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
O'Neil Ford collection
Date
2003
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Alexander Architectural Archives Repository

https://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/locations/alexander-architectural-archives
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Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4621

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