I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at the earliest campus construction photos, which are in the William Ward Watkin collection. The other day I stumbled upon something strange in a folder labeled “Engineering Quad.” These are drawings done by Watkin of a plan for the quad and shops and labs next to it. What strikes me about them is how old fashioned the quad itself looks—the building on the right resembles the back of the Physics amphitheater—and yet how modern the shops alongside it appear. The drawings are undated and I’m having a hard time understanding when they may have been done. Watkin lived until 1952, but since the building on the left clearly isn’t Abercrombie, this must have been done before Abercrombie was built in 1948.
Bonus: The shuttle Endeavour over the main quad, this morning. Many thanks to the always prepared Rachel Kimbro!
Larry Joe Miggins, who worked at Rice F&E for many years, was killed in a car wreck this weekend. If you knew Larry, this is a hard thing to take in. He was one of those people who seemed double alive, fun loving, full of enthusiasm and interested in everything. He loved history and was always alert for discoveries that he thought might belong in the archives. He would bring stuff to me, full of delight and telling some crazy story about how he got his hands on it. A lot of people will miss him. I’m one of them. Larry Joe Miggins, RIP.