Fehr and Granger collection
Scope and Content of the collection
The Fehr and Granger collection is comprised of drawings and photographic material (1949, n.d.). The records have been arranged in two series: Personal Papers and Project Records.
Personal Papers include the most of the photographic materials in the collection. The bulk of the photographic material records the travels of Charles Granger and includes slides of the work of fellow architects, particularly Richard Neutra. Many of these slides record a trip to California in 1949. Other slides reveal trips across the country during which Granger photographed built works by Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, O'Neil Ford, among others. The slides evidence the impact of contemporary modern architects on the work of Fehr and Granger in the years to come.
The Project Records series consists of the remaining photographic material, architectural drawings and some textual material. Forty-two slides record the construction process and the finished project for the Breard residence, a Fehr and Granger work in Dallas, Texas. Additional photographic material includes approximately 64 prints and 9 negatives that record the firm's projects. Approximately 175 rolls of drawings record the design process for the firm's Texas projects, excluding existing Austin buildings. Materials documenting the extant works by Fehr and Granger within Austin and Travis County are located at the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
Dates
- Creation: 1936-1966
Creator
- Fehr, Arthur and, 1904-1969 (contributor, Person)
- Charles Granger (contributor, Person)
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 Arthur Fehr (1904-1969)
Arthur Fehr graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture in 1925. He continued his education, studying in graduate programs at Columbia University, New York University, and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City. Before returning to Austin, Fehr worked with Kenneth Murchison in New York and Harvey Smith in San Antonio. In the 1930's, he worked for the National Park Service on the Bastrop State Park Project in Bastrop, Texas, where he met Charles T. Granger, another Austin native and University of Texas graduate.
Biographical Sketch of Charles Granger (1913-1966)
Charles Granger was born in Austin in 1913. During college, he met Fehr while working as a draftsman for the National Park Service at Bastrop State Park, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas (Austin) in 1936 and moved to Los Angeles to work with Richard Neutra after graduation. In 1938, he returned to Austin to join Arthur Fehr's architectural firm. During World War II, when commissions decreased, Granger attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield, Michigan and received his master's degree in 1946. While in Michigan he was introduced to the International Style as exhibited in the work of Eliel Saarinen who was teaching at Cranbrook. He worked with the firm Saarinen and Swanson before returning to Austin to reopen Fehr and Granger in 1946.
History of the Architectural Firm Fehr and Granger (1938-1972)
Fehr and Granger flourished after the war, winning local and national recognition for projects such as the Sneed residence (1953) in Austin, O. Henry Junior High School (1954) in Austin, Saint Stephen's Chapel (1955) in Austin, and Clifton Hall at Texas Lutheran College (1956) in Seguin, Texas. Fehr and Granger were published in Progressive Architecture in 1958 and they were honored with two awards from the journal in 1959. Their Robert Mueller Airport in Austin, Texas received a Design Award in 1959 and another award in 1961. In 1959, the Hillview Unit for Brown Schools, Inc. in San Marcos, Texas received an Educational Award Citation.
Charles Granger was killed in an automobile accident in 1966 shortly after becoming a fellow to the American Institute of Architects. Arthur Fehr continued to practice under the firm name Fehr and Granger until his death in 1969.
Partial Extent
230 drawings
Partial Extent
84 photographs
Partial Extent
357 slides
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Fehr and Granger was an award-winning architectural firm founded by University of Texas at Austin graduates Arthur Fehr (1904-1969) and Charles Granger (1913-1966) in 1946. Photographs, drawings, and papers document travel and the design and construction process of the firm's architectural projects. The Austin History Center has a large collection of architectural drawings of Fehr and Granger's built work in Austin and Travis County.
Arrangement
The Fehr and Granger collection is comprised of drawings and photographic material. The records have been arranged in two series: Personal Papers and Project Records.
References to works by or about Arthur Fehr and Charles Granger
-- compiled by Kathryn Pierce
- "Air conditioning calls for compactness." Architectural Record 101 (Jan. 1947): 76-77.
- "Airport, Austin, Texas." Architect and Building News 230, no. 20 (Nov. 1966): 857-864.
- "Annual Progressive Architecture awards." Progressive Architecture 29 (June 1948): 47-73.
- "Booking memorial nurses home, Gulf Coast Medical Foundation, Wharton, Texas." Progressive Architecture 35 (Jan. 1953): 103.
- "Children's Medical Clinic, Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 37 (Feb. 1956): 120-121.
- "Church: Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 30 (July 1949): 39- 42.
- "Church boarding school, Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 35 (Apr. 1954): 96-99.
- "Doctors' clinics." Progressive Architecture 29 (Dec. 1948): 61-72.
- "Education of children with hearing defects: Texas State School for the Deaf, Austin, Tex." Architectural Record 129 (Apr. 1961): 178- 179.
- "Five approaches to a sloping site." Architectural Record 117 (Feb. 1955): 163-174.
- "Four houses." Progressive Architecture 31 (Aug. 1950):51-69.
- "40 houses: Architectural forum's special house issue, no. 14." Architectural Forum 88 (Apr. 1948): 95-144.
- "Grangers Killed." Architectural Forum 124, no. 4 (May 1966): 91.
- "House: Dallas, Texas." Progressive Architecture 34 (Apr. 1953): 100- 105.
- McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997).
- Merheb-Emanuelli, Ely. "Granger House & the Perch, Austin, Travis County, Texas." National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service (2004).
- "Motorists' Accommodations: St. Elmo-Tel, near Austin, Texas." Architectural Record 90 (Oct. 1941): 63-66.
- "Municipal airport: Terminal Building, Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 42 (Nov. 1961): 154- 157.
- "P/A client critique: schools." Progressive Architecture 34 (July 1953): 71-93, 96-99.
- "P/A sixth annual design awards." Progressive Architecture 40 (Jan. 1959): 105-167.
- "'Poorboyed'" Baptist Church." Architectural Record 100 (Oct. 1946): 107.
- "Research Does It." Texas Architect 10 (Feb. 1989): 6-7, 14.
- "Small farmhouse: Texas version." Architectural Record 105 (Nov. 1946): 90-91.
- "Specialized clinic, Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 35 (July 1954): 92-93.
- Stillson, Lila. "Fehr & Granger." Texas Architect 39, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1989): 50.
- "Texas house with native frankness." Architectural Record 101 (Jan. 1947): 78.
- "The architect and his community: Fehr & Granger-Austin, Texas." Progressive Architecture 39 (Aug. 1958): 89-104.
- "Training facility for the mentally retarded: Austin State School, Austin, Texas." Architectural Record 129 (Apr. 1961); 180-181.
Processing Information
Processing is not completed. Please see Archive's staff for more information.
Collection Processors
Photographic materials processed by: Kathryn Pierce
Drawings processed by: Russell Hale, Eleen Wu, and Donna Coates
Subject
- Fehr, Arthur, 1904-1969 (contributor, Person)
- Charles Granger (contributor, Person)
- Fehr and Granger (contributor, Organization)
- Title
- Fehr and Granger collection
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Alexander Architectural Archives Repository
University of Texas Libraries
101 E. 21st Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4621
apl-aaa@lib.utexas.edu