Our first Archives Month event of this year, last Wednesday’s tour of Weatherford Hall, went swimmingly with excellent guidance from Weatherford Resident Director Jesus Ramirez and Austin Entrepreneur Program (AEP) Project Manager Dale McCauley.
There were 13 on the tour and we explored rooms, lounges, and office areas on the ground floor, first floor, and one of upper levels in the “tower” area. Not surprisingly, the tower offered most of the scenic highlights as we enjoyed a birds-eye view of autumnal campus from the balconies on both sides of the building facing northwest and southeast.
Inside the tower, we toured a meeting room where documents from the Weatherford’s “in-house” archives were displayed on an ancient table. These items included meeting minutes, reports, photos, and newsletters which were apparently kept in a locked glass display case. This room and the piano lounge downstairs both seemed to exude an old dorm feel, steeped in the dark brown wood and the white plaster walls.
Weatherford’s modern look was exemplified by the well-equipped maker lab for AEP students on the first floor. This spot was jam packed with printers not just designed to generate 3d objects but also to handle sheets of vinyl and cloth. For first year AEP students assigned to come up with their own small business, this space has been essential in creating customized decals and socks (which both sell very well).
The famous decorated doors are scattered throughout the building and we were able to see at least three of the 12 that are said to survive.
Some photos that I took during the tour are now posted on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/osuarchives/
It was a fun way to start off Archives Month 2015!
~Karl McCreary, SCARC Collections Archivist and Archives Month Bandleader.
