Watkin, William Ward. Papers. 1903-1956. (MS 352)
The papers detail the academic and architectural career of William Ward Watkin from 1903 to 1956. Included in the collection are personal information, business correspondence, construction photographs and architectural drawings of the early Rice Institute, and drawings of projects from his private architectural career. 4 linear feet (9 boxes).
TABLE OF CONTENTSDetailed Description of the Collection Series I. Biographical, 1903-1953. |
Guide to the William Ward Watkin Papers, 1903-1956
Biographical Note
Watkin worked on the development of both the campus plan and the building plan in the office; when construction was to begin, in the summer of 1910, Watkin was sent to Houston to serve as Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson's representative supervisor. In this capacity Watkin not only oversaw the construction of the initial Institute group--the Administration Building, the Mechanical laboratory and Powerhouse, and the North and South residence halls - but most of the Institute's subsequent development: the Physics laboratory (1913-1915), east Hall (1913-1914), West Hall (1915-1916), three proposed President's houses (1913, 1915, 1923-1924), the Field House (1920), the Chemistry Laboratory (1923-1925), a proposed Alumni Hall (1927), two proposed libraries (1927, 1940-1941), and the Founder's Statue (1927-1930). Watkin himself was to design the Faculty Club - Cohen House (1927), Rice Stadium (1938), and the Naval ROTC building (1941). He also served as consulting architect to Staub and Rather in the design and construction of the Fondren Library (1946-1949), M.D. Anderson Hall (1946-1947), and the Abercrombie Laboratory (1947-1948). As supervising architect, Watkin worked closely with Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett, president of the Rice Institute. Lovett offered Watkin a faculty appointment and the Institute opened in the fall of 1912 with Watkin as instructor in architectural engineering. In the summer of 1916 he was made an assistant professor and in 1922 he became a full professor. In 1914 the architecture faculty expanded to two, and to three in 1915. Rice awarded the first professional degrees in architecture in 1917. Watkin's efforts to provide his students with a thorough course in architectural studies led him to organize a traveling fellowship in 1928. Watkin's academic duties were not restricted to the Architecture department. He was also Curator of Grounds, Chairman of the Faculty Committee on Buildings and Grounds, and Chairman of the Faculty Committee on Outdoor Sports, a position which resulted in his serving a term as president of the Southwest Conference in 1920. At the time of his sabbatical in the 1928-1929 academic year, Watkin resigned the athletic committee post. He remained, however, head of Buildings and Grounds, as his resignation of this post was not accepted by Dr. Lovett. During World War II, Watkin chaired the Committee on Air Raid protection and Civilian defense. As early as 1912 Watkin was accepting independent architectural commissions. Between 1913 and 1915 he entered into partnership with George Endress of Austin, practicing under the name Endress and Watkin. This firm was dissolved at the end of 1919 and Watkin thereafter practiced under his own name. Also in 1919 Watkin ceased his affiliation with Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, though he continued to operate, on a commission basis, as supervisor for their Texas projects. In addition to practicing architecture, Watkin consulted on projects, and in 1933 he was appointed to the Board of Architectural Consultants, an advisory group connected with the design of the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C. During the teens and twenties, Watkin wrote articles for journals, primarily dealing with Houston, its growth and development, and the implications these held for the city's architecture. Watkin contributed descriptive pieces on the Rice Institute to Progressive Houston and the Southern Architectural Review, Houston's short-lived architectural magazine. Not until the late twenties did he become more involved in research and writing. In 1930 the Rice Institute Pamphlet published a series of lectures Watkin had given on the new architecture in Europe; Pencil Points reprinted these in 1931. Watkin wrote two additional essays for Pencil Points, one published in 1931 on new directions in ecclesiastical architecture, and another in 1932. This former essay was something of a prolegomena to Watkin's first book, The Church of Tomorrow published in 1936. In 1951 Watkin's second book, Planning and Building the Modern Church, was published. At the time of his death he was planning to write a book on architecture in Texas. Watkin had numerous academic and professional associations. He was a member of the Houston Philosophical Society, the Texas Philosophical Society and the Houston Country Club. Watkin was a charter member of the Rice Institute Faculty Club. He had become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1913, and was elected to the College of Fellows in 1949. Watkin was a communicant of Trinity Church. William Ward Watkin died on June 24, 1952 from complications following surgery for a broken kneecap. He was survived by his wife, Josephine Cockrell Watkin, whom he had married in 1933. Watkin had previously been married to Annie Ray Townsend Watkin, who died in 1929. Their three children were Annie Ray Watkin Biehl Hoagland, Rosemary Watkin Barrick, and William Ward Watkin, Jr. Excerpted from Stephen Fox's 1976 unpublished Guide to the Papers of William Ward Watkin in the Woodson Research Center of the Rice University. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentsThe William Ward Watkin Papers, totaling nine document boxes, detail the academic and architectural career of Watkin. The papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs and architectural drawings gathered by Annie Ray Watkin from her father's papers. The collection is arranged in three series. The Biographical series concentrates on Watkin's personal life. It includes materials from his school days, family correspondence, speeches, lectures and writings. The speeches and writings are architectural in subject. The series Architectural Career covers both Watkin's time at Rice and his private practice. Watkin first came to Rice in 1910, as an employee of the architecture firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. He oversaw the construction of the Administration Building, the Mechanical Laboratory and Power Plant, and a Residential Group, the first buildings on the campus. Then, Watkin went on to design and supervise the building of other structures on campus. Most of the materials in the sub-series, Rice Institute, are photographic but there are some textual materials. The sub-series Private Practice incorporates many projects Watkin undertook outside of his career at Rice. These papers include correspondence with clients and drawings of projects. The final series Academic Career touches upon the various roles Watkin played at Rice, other than as architect. Most prominent are records from his time with the Architecture department. Return to the Table of Contents ArrangementThe William Ward Watkin Papers, 1903-1953 are arranged in three series: Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThis material is open for research. Use RestrictionsPermission to publish from Watkin papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. Return to the Table of Contents Related MaterialEdgar Odell Lovett Presidential Papers for additional correspondence and information on the building of Rice and Rice Academics. University Archives - Architectural Files for drawings and blueprints of Rice buildings. MS 465, the Ray Watkin Hoagland Papers for additional information about William Ward Watkin. Return to the Table of Contents Index TermsSubjects (Persons)Cram, Ralph.
Lovett, Edgar
Odell.
Watkin, William
Ward.
Subjects (Organizations)Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson.
Rice University--Buildings.
Rice University--Faculty.
Rice University.
SubjectsArchitects--Texas.
College
buildings--Texas--Houston.
Universities and colleges--Texas.
PlacesHouston (Tex.)--Buildings, structures,
etc.
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred CitationWilliam Ward Watkin - Papers, 1903-1956, MS 352, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University Alternate (Digital) Form AvailableA representative sampling of the photographs, correspondence, publications and more from the Watkin collection is available in searchable digital format online at Fondren Digital Collections. Acquisition InformationThe papers were gifted by Ray Watkin Strange and the Watkin family from the early 1970s through the early 2000s. Note to ResearchersMuch of the correspondence is photocopied. The originals are in the possession of the Watkin heirs. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Collection
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