Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
Arkansans at Work: Historic Architects and Craftsmen of Arkansas
PowerPoint Teacher Notes
Slide 1:
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) is one of seven agencies
within the Department of Arkansas Heritage. AHPP identifies, evaluates,
registers, and preserves historic and cultural resources in the state. A property is
usually considered historic if it is 50 years old or older. Can you think of any
historic places in your community?
Slide 2:
Have you ever seen a plaque or sign like this? This plaque shows that a place is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the
country’s official list of properties that are historically significant and in need of
preservation. Preservation means to keep something safe and protected from
being destroyed or neglected. Can you think of anything that you preserve?
(Examples: food in refrigerator, something you collect – baseball cards, pictures,
etc.) The National Register of Historic Places is like an honor roll of historic
places and one of AHPP’s most popular programs.
Slide 3:
This lesson will focus on important historic architects, craftsmen and designers in
Arkansas. There have been many notable Arkansans in these fields but we will
focus on only five people: Charles Thompson, Jewel Bain, Edward Durell Stone,
Silas Owens, Sr. and Fay Jones.
Slide 4:
Word Splash: Ask students to choose three out of the ten phrases on view and
write the best sentence or statement possible. Let the students know that there will
be no assessment of the answers before the lesson, but they should pay attention
as the lesson progresses to learn the correct answers.
Ask a few students to volunteer to share their statements. Do an informal
assessment of student knowledge to guide you on how much time your class will
need to spend on instruction.
Slide 5:
Can anyone define the term architecture? These buildings were designed in
different styles of architecture. [The buildings are (top, left to right) Randolph
County Courthouse in Pocahontas (Italianate-style), Lakeport Plantation near
Lake Village (Greek Revival-style), Rialto Theater in El Dorado (Classical
Revival-style), (bottom, left to right), Daisy Bates House in Little Rock
(modern/ranch style), Farmers Bank Building in Leslie (Vernacular
Richardsonian Romanesque-style) and Bethel African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Batesville (Vernacular)]
Slide 6:
Read slide to define architecture. Does anyone know someone who is an
architect? Has anyone ever considered a career in architecture?
Slide 7:
Read slide. A building’s architecture is comprised of its style (fashion), form
(shape), and structure (the components that give the building its characteristic
forms and styles).
Slide 8:
There are two large categories of styles, vernacular and high style. Read slide.
There are also many subsets of styles such as Greek Revival, Queen Anne,
Colonial Revival, Craftsman, and Mixed Masonry, among others.
Slide 9:
The Lee House in Damascus is an example of vernacular architecture in the
Mixed Masonry-style, designed and constructed by craftsman Silas Owens, Sr.
Slide 10:
Marlsgate in Scott is an example of high style architecture in the Classical
Revival-style designed by architect Charles Thompson.
Slide 11:
What is the job of an architect? Read slide.
Slide 12:
What is the job of a craftsman? Read slide.
Slide 13:
Charles Thompson was one of the early architects in Arkansas, designing
buildings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He did not have formal
architecture training, but he designed many high style buildings in Arkansas.
Read slide. Ask if anyone can define the words in bold: draftsman, partner and
firm.
Draftsman: A person who draws plans for a structure.
Partner: A person who is involved in the management of a company or firm;
sometimes called a principal.
Firm: A business partnership of two or more people.
Charles Thompson’s firm designed more than 2,000 buildings across the state.
Some of his most famous buildings include the Washington County Courthouse in
Fayetteville, Marlsgate Plantation, El Dorado High School, Little Rock City Hall
and the Ragland House in Little Rock.
Slide 14:
The Washington County Courthouse is one of Charles Thompson’s well-known
buildings. It was built in 1905 in the Richardsonian Romanesque-style. The
arched doorways and windows, recessed entrance and cylindrical towers are
features of this style. On the right is Charles Thompson’s front elevation drawing
of the courthouse. An elevation is a scale drawing of the exterior of the building.
Architects draw plans including site plans, floor plans, elevations and sections for
their designs.
Slide 15:
The Ragland House is another of Charles Thompson’s well-known projects. The
house was built for an important banker and stockbroker named William Ragland.
This house was built in 1894, in the Queen Anne-style. The asymmetrical layout,
large porch, intricate trim work and tower are all features of this style. On the
right is Charles Thompson’s floor plan for the first floor of the house. The floor
plan lays out each room configuration, including window and door location.
Charles Thompson retired in 1938 after 52 years of architecture practice. He
continued to be active in the community, serving with a number of organizations
and commissions before his death in 1959.
Slide 16:
Read slide. Can anyone define the word philanthropist?
Philanthropist: A person who promotes the wellbeing of others, especially
through charitable donations.
Jewel Bain was a lifetime resident of Pine Bluff. Higher education opportunities
were very limited for women of her generation, especially in architecture, yet
Jewel designed four homes that her family occupied. The homes were built over a
period of forty years from 1924 until 1965 in various styles including Craftsman,
Art Moderne and Japanese-inspired architecture. She learned how to draw floor
plans and rough elevations then hired professional architects to draw the
blueprints.
Slide 17:
This was the first house Jewel Bain designed and had constructed. It was built in
1924 when Jewel was in her early twenties. The house is designed in the
Craftsman-style. Features of this style include exposed rafter tails, casement
windows and use of natural, mixed materials such as brick and stucco. The
Craftsman style was popular in Arkansas from 1910 until 1950, but Jewel added
distinct elements to her style that made it more unique than other houses in the
area, including decorative brackets.
Slide 18:
Jewel’s second house (shown in the top image) was built during the Great
Depression in 1937 in the Art Moderne-style. The house is very boxy with
stringcourse to emphasize its horizontal lines, both features of the Art Modernestyle. It is of steel construction and includes structural carrera glass. Art
Moderne was a unique style for homes in Arkansas; it is believed that Jewel was
inspired by magazines and homes featured in the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The
bottom image shows the Good Housekeeping-Stran-Steel House from “A Century
of Progress” exhibit thought to be Jewel’s inspiration. What are similarities and
differences that you notice in the design of these two homes?
Jewel’s third house was completed in 1948, also designed in a modern style. Her
fourth and final house was completed in 1965 and was inspired by Japanese
architecture. Jewel Bain was very involved in community affairs, donating time
and money to various organizations. She died in 1996.
Slide 19:
Edward Durell Stone is one of the most widely-known architects from Arkansas.
Read slide. Has anyone heard of Frank Lloyd Wright? If so, can anyone tell us
why he is important?
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the leading architects in the United States in the
20th century. His philosophy style was called organic architecture, taking
inspiration from the natural environment.
Edward’s buildings are found all over the world, including Arkansas. Some of his
most famous buildings include United States Embassy in New Delhi, India;
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; U.S. Pavilion at the
Brussels World’s Fair; and Radio City Music Hall, Center Theater at Rockefeller
Center and the Museum of Modern Art, all in New York City. In Arkansas his
well-known designs include the Jay Lewis Residence in McGehee, the Pine Bluff
Civic Center, the Willis Noll House, University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center and
Sigma Nu Fraternity House in Fayetteville.
Slide 20:
This is one of Edward’s best-known buildings, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi,
India, completed in 1959. It is built in a modern style, but with an ornate and
formal design. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi was revered by Frank Lloyd
Wright, who called it one of the finest buildings of the last one hundred years.
The image on the left is a ground plan of the embassy, including the interior space
and courtyard.
Slide 21:
The Jay Lewis Residence was one of a handful of homes Edward designed in
Arkansas. It was designed to blend in with the natural environment and included
an interior courtyard. It also features Edward’s “dogtrot” concept in which he
eliminated hallways which he considered a waste of interior functional space.
Edward also designed many large-scale public buildings including the Pine Bluff
Civic Center. This complex includes a library, art and sciences building, city hall,
and courts, as well as police and fire station buildings. All the buildings are
connected by a concrete colonnade. The landscape plan around the center was
designed by Edward’s son Edward Durell Stone, Jr., a landscape architect. It was
the only project when father and son worked together in the state of Arkansas.
Slide 22:
Silas Owens, Sr. was a successful craftsman and businessman who built several
homes, churches and other buildings in Arkansas. Read slide. Ask students to
define Works Progress Administration, stonemason and Mixed Masonry.
Works Progress Administration: One of the New Deal programs during the
Great Depression developed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
administration to create jobs, enhance infrastructure and construct buildings.
Stonemason: A person who prepares and lays stone in building.
Mixed Masonry: Architecture style using a combination of materials including
cream and red brick, sandstone, limestone and crystals popular in Arkansas,
Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri in the 1930s – 1950s.
During the period of segregation in the South when Silas lived, higher education
opportunities for African Americans were very limited. Few African Americans
served as formally trained architects in the South during this time. Although he
was not formally trained as an architect, Silas impacted the built environment in
Arkansas with his vernacular-style buildings.
Slide 23:
Silas’s famous rockwork was a self-taught skill. Probably one of the first projects
he worked on was the Elephant House at the Little Rock Zoo while serving on a
Works Progress Administration (WPA) contract. Two of the houses he designed
and built are shown on the left. Trademarks of his style include the mixed
masonry materials (brick and stone), arched entranceways and several patterns
including the zipper effect, herringbone and geometric designs.
Slide 24:
These are pictures of a few of Silas’s buildings showing some elements of his
craftsmanship. The zipper effect is a design style with a zigzag pattern using
mixed materials. The herringbone pattern, laying stones on their sides in an
alternating design, was Silas’s signature style exhibited in many of his buildings.
Silas often incorporated interesting materials in his designs besides brick and
stone. The top right picture shows turquoise and marbles. Silas encouraged
children to embed marbles into the mortar of homes. He also inserted reflective
glass pieces into the mortar of his home (shown in the picture on the bottom left).
Silas designed and constructed buildings in Little Rock, North Little Rock,
Camden, Hot Springs, Malvern, Pine Bluff, Twin Groves, Conway and Damascus
for both white and black families. Many of Silas’s buildings are still standing
today and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Slide 25:
Fay Jones is one of Arkansas’s well-known professional architects. Read slide.
Can anyone define the term engineering?
Engineering: A field of math and science concerned with the design, construction
and use of machines, engines and structures. There are several branches of
engineering including mechanical, civil, chemical, industrial and electrical.
There was no school of architecture at the University of Arkansas when Fay Jones
first attended which is why he studied art and engineering. After serving in World
War II, Fay returned to the University of Arkansas had just created its first
architecture program and Fay was a member of the first graduating class in 1950.
Slide 26:
Fay Jones was inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and served as
an apprentice at Wright’s home Taliesin East in Wisconsin. Fay incorporated
elements of Wright’s organic architecture into his designs, including the use of
native materials, attention to craftsmanship, details and the use of natural light in
his buildings. Fay’s most famous design is Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs.
It was designed to blend into the natural environment surrounding the chapel. In
2000, the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) named Thorncrown one of the
most significant buildings of the 20th century. The bottom right picture shows a
model of Thorncrown Chapel created during the design stage of the building by
Fay. An architectural model is a three-dimensional diagram of a building built to
scale.
Slide 27:
Fay Jones designed 218 buildings throughout his career, with the majority of
buildings constructed in his home state of Arkansas. Many of the buildings were
houses. The Hantz House (top picture) was designed while Fay was still a student
at the University of Arkansas. It was his only student design that was ever built.
Fay’s home designs were created using principles of organic architecture. The
Shaheen-Goodfellow Weekend Cabin, known as Stoneflower was designed to
blend into the natural environment. Fay was also a craftsman who designed
furniture, light fixtures and other pieces for the interiors of his buildings,
including Stoneflower. Fay practiced architecture in his Fayetteville studio from
1954 until 1998. He passed away in 2004. To honor his lasting contribution, in
2009 the school of architecture at The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville
became the Fay Jones School of Architecture.
Slide 28:
Word Splash (Closure): Display the same 10 phrases from the previous Word
Splash and ask students to choose five and write the best sentence or statement
possible. Ask a few students to volunteer to share their statements and do an
informal assessment in class to see if student answers have improved overall. The
teacher will take up the written statements to more specifically determine the
knowledge level of each student.
Slide 29:
To conduct more research on historic sites in Arkansas, students can search the
Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s website and find sites listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. You may choose to search for sites in your
community designed by these five architects or others.
Slide 30:
Optional Design Activity – Find more information about this activity in the
Arkansans at Work lesson plan.