Texas Architecture Survey records

In 1963, the Board of Trustees of the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth, Texas invited the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture to participate in a survey of nineteenth century historic buildings in Texas. The Amon Carter Museum (ACM) had recently opened in 1961 and planned to use the photographic documentation from the survey as part of its exhibition development program. The survey would be uniquely focused on Texas, modeled on previous national efforts such as the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) operated by the National Park Service. The Texas Architecture Survey (TAS) would document nineteenth-century buildings, including those at risk of demolition or being condemned.

John Garner began work as Field Director of operations on January 27, 1964. Garner was a Master's student in the University of Texas School of Architecture, working with Professors Martin Kermacy and Blake Alexander. Garner drove throughout Texas, establishing local contacts and documenting buildings with 35 mm slide transparency film. These slides, and his field notes (called "Building Description Lists") [both found in Series B], were reviewed by the university steering committee. The committee and ACM then created building lists for professional photographer Todd Webb to shoot in large format film.

The TAS designated eight geographical districts within the state of Texas. Field Director Garner worked by district, recording notes about visited counties, cities, communities, and buildings. Garner (and collaborators) used a classification system based on abbreviations for these districts, counties, and cities to identify and organize the slides. Each building within a city was given a sequential number. Garner worked in District One first, mostly in Spring 1964.

Although it appears that the TAS planned to visit all 254 counties and eight districts in Texas, their efforts actually focused on central and eastern Texas. Garner completed his fieldwork and resigned as Field Director on June 1, 1965, thus concluding all primary data acquisition for the TAS. In his final report, dated June 24, 1965, Garner noted that "the physical area surveyed at the close of the project was comprised of all counties east of a line drawn from Del Rio on the Rio Grande River to Denison on the Red River with the exception of certain counties proximate to the east side of the described line -- Edwards, Real, Kimble, Mason, McCullough, Comanche, Erath, and Denton. In all, there were 138 counties of the State surveyed. Those 116 counties not investigated comprise the geographical region known as West Texas."

Todd Webb, commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum as a professional photographer, worked from a prescribed building list developed by the Texas Architecture Survey. Although Field Director Garner did not work in West Texas, Todd Webb was able to photograph several buildings in the region. His photographic coverage often followed Garner's preliminary work but does not mirror it. No documentation exists to establish the terms or period of employment for Todd Webb, but his shot logs date from March 1964 to October 1966.

All materials accrued by the field investigation were deposited [as of 1965] either in Fort Worth or Austin by Field Director Garner upon termination of his duties. Principally, all record photographs were left in the security of Professor Alexander at the University of Texas, while all equipment and supplies were returned to the Carter Museum. Todd Webb continued working throughout 1966.

The TAS also relied on external collections of historical photographs to aid the selection of outstanding buildings for the survey and publications. The Amon Carter printed negatives produced by architect and historian David Williams. The TAS also acquired the Gus Cranz collection of historic Texas architecture from his widow and son. Records also include what was internally termed by the TAS as the "Texas Frontier Architecture File."

Todd Webb's work was intended for gallery exhibition at the ACM and publication in two architectural history books. The TAS collection contains all of his shot logs, contact sheets, contact and study prints, negatives, and a selection of large prints. The descriptive information is not standardized, although many photographs are identified by building name, street address, general location, city, county, previous resident, or other data.

Todd Webb did not use the same classification filing system for his photographs as Garner. The Webb photographic negatives are arranged by Amon Carter Museum (ACM) accession numbers.

Two books resulted from the TAS project, which are illustrated exclusively with Todd Webb photographs: Texas Homes of the Nineteenth Century written by Professor Drury Blakeley Alexander of UT-Austin (published by The University of Texas Press for the Amon Carter Museum in 1966) and Texas Public Buildings of the Nineteenth Century by Professor Willard B. Robinson of Texas Tech University (published by The University of Texas Press for the Amon Carter Museum in 1974). The records in the TAS collection include a reference document for matching Todd Webb negatives with pages and plates in the two publications.

In 1969, the Amon Carter transferred the bulk of the TAS collection to the University of Texas. Professor Blake Alexander may have retained some items as well. The "Texas Frontier Architecture File" records were donated by Garner in 1986, followed by another gift of large exhibit panels from the Amon Carter in 1987. The large exhibition panels are not considered part of the collection. In 2002, the Amon Carter transferred several boxes of material including the Gus Cranz and David Williams reference collections, and Todd Webb photographic material. In 2004, the Visual Resources Collection donated the field slides (35 mm) taken by Garner.

Todd Webb (1905-2000) was an American photographer who befriended Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe, with works held by over 15 museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the Chicago Art Institute, IL; and the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Referred to as "an historian with a camera," Webb was an established photographer when commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum to produce photographic works for the Texas Architecture Survey. Webb was already working with the Amon Carter to exhibit a solo show, Early Western Trails and Some Ghost Towns [Photographs by Todd Webb] that ran from November 25, 1965 - January 16, 1966. During this era, Webb and his wife Lucille spent 10 years living in New Mexico, near Georgia O'Keeffe.

Todd Webb had two successful exhibitions at the Amon Carter featuring his work with the TAS: Texas Homes of the Nineteenth Century [Photographs by Todd Webb], October 27, 1966 - January 1967; and Texas Public Buildings of the Nineteenth Century [Photographs by Todd Webb], November 14, 1974 - January 5, 1975.

More information about Todd Webb can be found on the Todd Webb Archive's website: https://www.toddwebbarchive.com/.