David R. Williams Papers

Collection 27

Williams, David R. (1890–1962). Papers, 1847–1986, n.d.

26 feet

David Reichard Williams was an architect, a government official, a city planner, a bon vivant, and a Texan. Born in 1890 near Childress on the Texas panhandle, Williams never separated himself from the values instilled by a childhood on the frontier or by growing up in the great expansiveness of his native state. Williams remained in Childress until 1913 when he left for Austin and an education at the University of Texas. Interests in architecture and engineering honed through work in a railroad foundry and correspondence study were developed at the University. He also served as staff member and editor of the yearbook, Cactus. Just before graduation he answered a bulletin board advertisement which led him to Tampico, Mexico and a short career in the oilfields. His engineering and architectural work in Mexico was set amidst the revolution which occasionally complicated life in Tampico. Nevertheless, Williams was able to amass a small fortune which allowed him to tour Europe in the early 1920s. Here he furthered his education in architecture and acquired a notable rare book collection which specialized in Renaissance architecture.

Williams returned from Europe and established an architectural practice in Dallas, Texas in 1924. During the next nine years he evolved a style which borrowed heavily from pioneer Texas buildings. Williams called this the "indigenous architecture." It became very influential in the southwest as practiced by Williams' disciples O'Neil Ford and Arch Swank. As Williams became a national figure he took his indigenous theories with him and introduced them to a larger audience. While in Dallas Williams became the center of a coterie of artists who heavily influenced the cultural life of the city then and of the entire state for many years thereafter. With the worsening of the Depression Williams became involved with community planning and the building of rural communities for the dispossessed first for the state and later at the national level. He was directly involved with the development of rural communities in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Alaska. In 1936 Williams began working for the National Youth Administration where he eventually became Deputy Administrator. Again he was heavily involved with planning and architecture activities, including the La Villita project in San Antonio.

During World War II Williams served in two different capacities. First he worked with war housing where he made pioneering efforts in the field of prefabrication. Second he worked in Central and South America on road building and site planning operations. It was while he was in Central America that he survived an airplane crash but sustained a broken neck. Although he was not disabled by the accident, he never fully recovered and had health difficulties for the remainder of his life.

From 1945 until his retirement in 1951 Williams worked for a number of governmental agencies planning hospitals, designing tropic and arctic housing, and developing special housing projects in Venezuela. The employing agencies included USPHS, UNRRA, and the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

In retirement Williams resided in Lafayette, Louisiana where he served as a consultant and was active in the American Institute of Architects, the Texas Society of Architects, and the American Planning and Civic Association. He played a key role in obtaining the Louis Sullivan papers stored in Ocean Springs, Mississippi for the AIA. As a capstone to his career Williams was elected to a Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects in 1960.

One of Williams greatest contributions to architecture was his influence on promising young practitioners, especially during the Depression years. Williams tried to provide as many jobs as he could find for as many architects as possible. In this and other ways he influenced the life and career of men such as O'Neil Ford, Arch B. Swank, John Pritchard, Richard J. Neutra, Marshall Shaffer, and J. Palmer Boggs.

On December 31, 1934 Williams married Louise Lyle Givens of Lafayette, Louisiana. This collection is also a reflection of the life and work of Lyle, especially following Dave's death in 1962. Lyle was active in such groups as AAUW and the League of Women Voters. Before 1951 she worked for the American Red Cross while after the move to Lafayette she taught English at USL. The Williams' were both active in cultural organizations including little theatre groups in Dallas, Alexandria, Virginia, and Lafayette; the Lafayette Museum; and art groups.

Davida Williams was born in 1939. Many aspects of her life in the family are also chronicled in the collection, especially her interest in and talent for art. Williams was an avid amateur photographer so the collection contains an extensive subsection of photographs.

Among the many subjects and people represented in the collection are:

Subject:

• Alexandria (Virginia) - Description and Travel
• American Association of University Women. Lafayette (Louisiana)
• Chapter
• American Association of University Women. Louisiana Branch
• American Institute of Architects
• American Institute of Architects. Dallas (Texas) Chapter
• Architecture - Texas
• Architecture - Texas - History
• Architecture - Texas - Pictorial Views
• Architecture - United States
• Architecture, Domestic - United States
• Architecture, Modern - United States
• Avion Village (Texas)
• Central America - Description and Travel
• Cherry Lake (Florida)
• Community Development - United States
• Democratic Party
• Downtown Lafayette Unlimited
• Emergency Housing - United States
• Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Lafayette (Louisiana)
• Europe - Pictorial Views
• Federal Aid to Community Development
• Federal Emergency Relief Agency
• Federal Works Agency, Mutual Ownership Defense Housing
• Floods - Louisiana
• Friends of Dupré Library
• Historic Buildings - Conservation and Restoration - United States
• Historic Buildings - Texas - Pictorial Views
• Housing - United States
• Housing - Venezuela
• Institute of Inter-American Affairs
• Lafayette (Louisiana) - History
• Lafayette (Louisiana) Little Theatre
• Lafayette (Louisiana) Museum
• Little Theatre of Dallas (Texas)
• Matanuska Valley, Alaska
• Mexico - Pictorial Views
• Mexico City (Mexico) - Pictorial Views
• National Youth Administration
• Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia
• Prefabricated Houses - United States
• Race Relations
• Raworth Family
• Shadows-on-the-Teche
• Tampico, Mexico - Pictorial Views
• Texas - Centennial Celebrations, 1936
• Texas - Description and Travel
• Texas - Folklore
• Texas Book Club
• Texas Society of Architects
• Torian Family
• United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency
• United States - History - 20th Century
• University of Texas
• La Villita (San Antonio, Texas)
• Williams Family

Persons:

• Asch, Nathan (1902-1964
• Baker, Jacob ([1895]-1967)
• Barnes, Ferguson
• Bell, Howard
• Black, Hulon W.
• Boggs, J. Palmer
• Borglum, Gutzon (1871-1941)
• Bowman, Mary R.
• Bromberg, Alfred L.
• Brown, Richard Rolland (1902- )
• Bryan, Ralph
• Bywater, Jerry (1906- )
• Campbell, Stew C. (1896- )
• Caputo, Mario V.
• Colvin, M. Milton
• Conley, Lucille
• Crowell, Evelyn Miller Pierce
• Davies, Ferguson
• DeWitt, Roscoe (1894- )
• Dugger, Jeannie
• Dugger, Ronnie (1930- )
• Durham, C. J. S. "Jack" [b. 1903]
• Drane, Hugh A. (1885-1967)
• Earle, Rona
• Evans, Ernestine (1889-1967)
• Ford, O'Neil (1905-1982)
• Gard, Wayne (1899- )
• Garner, Ruth
• George, Eugene
• Givens, Evelyn M.
• Givens, John S., III
• Givens, Richard C.
• Goldberg, Bernard
• Hader, John and Mathilda
• Hall, Weeks ( -1958)
• Harris, August Watkins
• Harrison, Carter
• Hibben, Tom ([1894]-1952)
• Hogg, Ima (1882-1975)
• Hubbell, Julia B. (1889- )
• Hunt, Hallie Caldwell
• Jacobs, Leo B. (1902-1945)
• Jensen, Karl
• Johnson, Lyndon (1908-1973)
• Jones, Laura Stevens
• Karsten, Karl G. ([1892]-1968)
• Kellam, Jess G.
• King-Farlow, Denys and Margaret
• Kittrell, William H., Jr. ([1895]-1966)
• Knight, Theresa Campbell
• Kramer, Arthur L. ( -1950)
• Landrum, Lynn V.
• Lomax, Alan (1915- )
• McCarthy, Muriel Q. (1933- )
• Mamalakis, Marie G.
• Marcus, H. Stanley (1905- )
• Maverick, Maruy (1895-1954)
• Maxson, Harry I.
• Merrick, Bub
• Merrick, Ophelia R. (1883-1965)
• Nettleton, Denys
• Neutra, Dione (1906- )
• Neutra, Richard (1892-1970)
• Pettengill, George E.
• Price, Ed
• Pritchard, John H.
• Rayburn, Sam (1882-1961)
• Rennie, Leonard C.
• Rogers, William
• Saarinen, Eero (1910-1961)
• Sarre, A. J.
• Shafer, Harry L.
• Shaffer, Marshall
• Sloan, Blanding
• Sharp, Walter C.
• Stanley, Tom
• Stokowski, Leopold (1887-1977)
• Swank, Arch B., Jr.
• Stroube, W. C.
• Tibbetts, Marie
• Tolbert, Frank (1911-1984)
• Valient, Margaret
• Wade, Michael (1946- )
• Walser, Adrian A.
• Watkins, Evangeline
• Westbrook, Lawrence (1889-1964)
• Williams, Arthur (1880-1962)
• Williams, Aubrey (1890-1965)
• Williams, Dan R. (1890-1969)
• Williams, David Raworth
• Williams, Davida (1939- )
• Williams, Lyle Givens (1907- )
• Williams, Raworth
• Williams, Sumner (1901- )
• Willson, Corwin
• Winn, James Buchanan, Jr.
• Wright, Frank Lloyd (1869-1959)
• Wright, Richardson (1887-1961)
• Zisman, Sam B.

Series:

Inventory:

Williams, David R. (1890-1962). Papers, 1847-1986, n.d. (PDF)