Lens on the Texas Frontier

Foreword

Foreword I n฀the฀realms฀of฀collecting฀and฀documenting฀Texana,฀ certain฀names฀loom฀large:฀Raines,฀Streeter,฀Winkler,฀and฀ Friend฀come฀immediately฀to฀mind.฀Larry฀Jones฀belongs฀in฀this฀ company฀as฀well,฀even฀though฀he฀has฀departed฀somewhat฀from฀ his฀distinguished฀predecessors฀by฀concentrating฀his฀efforts฀not฀ on฀books฀and฀pamphlets฀and฀broadsides,฀but฀on฀another฀important ฀physical฀object,฀the฀photograph.฀Texts฀will฀always฀be฀essential฀ in฀helping฀us฀to฀understand฀the฀past,฀but฀images฀provide฀us฀with฀ another฀way฀to฀see฀and฀interpret฀historical฀events.฀The฀Jones฀ Collection฀of฀early฀Texas฀photography,฀which฀now฀resides,฀we฀are฀ happy฀to฀say,฀at฀the฀DeGolyer฀Library฀at฀Southern฀Methodist฀ University,฀is฀without฀peer฀in฀terms฀of฀depth,฀breadth,฀and฀quality.฀ An฀additional฀benefit ฀as฀these฀pages฀attest,฀is฀that฀Larry’s฀collection ฀is฀informed฀throughout฀by฀his฀discerning฀eye฀and฀his฀quest฀ to฀understand฀these฀photographs฀in฀their฀historical฀context.฀For฀ Jones,฀amassing฀the฀collection฀went฀hand฀in฀hand฀with฀interpreting ฀the฀photographs,฀finding฀ elationships฀and฀linkages.฀In฀this฀ regard,฀much฀of฀Larry’s฀work฀is฀pioneering:฀he฀has฀pursued฀the฀ story฀of฀early฀Texas฀photography฀himself฀with฀original฀research฀ and฀pointed฀the฀way฀for฀others฀to฀follow.฀It฀is฀a฀rich฀legacy,฀and฀all฀ Texans฀owe฀him฀a฀great฀debt. ฀ Many฀of฀the฀images฀are฀iconic:฀the฀Alamo฀and฀the฀state฀capitol,฀ Cynthia฀Ann฀Parker,฀and฀Sam฀Houston.฀But฀for฀me฀and,฀I฀suspect฀ for฀many฀others฀as฀well,฀it฀is฀the฀less฀well-known฀image฀that฀captures ฀the฀imagination.฀In฀the฀Jones฀collection฀one฀confronts฀Texas฀ and฀Texans฀from฀all฀walks฀of฀life:฀rich฀and฀poor;฀black,฀white,฀red,฀ and฀brown;฀male฀and฀female;฀adults฀and฀children;฀small฀towns฀and฀ developing฀cities;฀farms฀and฀landscapes;฀businesses฀and฀industries;฀ and฀even฀animals—including฀a฀cat฀posed฀with฀a฀serape! ฀ There฀are฀thousands฀of฀these฀early฀photographs,฀each฀of฀them฀ part฀of฀an฀ongoing฀visual฀history฀of฀Texas.฀For฀their฀assistance฀in฀ allowing฀us฀to฀digitize฀the฀Jones฀Collection฀at฀SMU,฀making฀it฀ available฀via฀the฀Internet฀to฀everyone฀from฀students฀in฀seventhgrade ฀Texas฀history฀classes฀to฀scholars฀around฀the฀world,฀we฀are฀ grateful฀to฀the฀Summerlee฀Foundation฀and฀to฀the฀TexTreasures฀ grant฀program฀of฀the฀Texas฀State฀Library฀and฀Archives฀Commission ฀and฀the฀Institute฀of฀Museum฀and฀Library฀Services.฀We฀invite฀ everyone฀to฀explore฀these฀images฀online฀through฀our฀website. ฀ But฀most฀of฀all,฀we฀are฀grateful฀to฀Larry฀Jones.฀With฀this฀book฀ in฀hand฀as฀an฀indispensable฀guide฀to฀the฀territory,฀our฀understanding ฀of฀Texas฀and฀its฀photographic฀history฀will฀surely฀be฀sharper฀ and฀more฀memorable. Russell฀L.฀Martin฀III Director฀and฀Librarian DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU ...