The collection of photographs taken by
Smithers consists primarily of images representing the Texas borderlands and
peoples and military camps and forts. Images of Mexico, Utah, New Mexico and
other western states are present in the collection. Also included are
photographs of early aviators and airplanes, images of schools and universities
in Texas and Mexico, newsworthy events, and religous subjects.
Wilfred Dudley Smithers was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, August
31, 1895, where his father was employed as a bookkeeper for the American Mine
and Smelting Company. When he was 10, his family moved to San Antonio, Texas.
He started his career in commercial photography in 1910, taking pictures at
Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio of pioneer aviation. He became an aerial
photographer for the U.S. Army Aviation Service during World War I and he
worked with the Army Civil Service as a wagon master, until his retirement
shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
Between 1935-1939, under a contract with the International Boundary
and Water Commission, Smithers photographed the entire U.S.-Mexican Border from
Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. During the 1930s, while living in
El Paso, he also took photographs for the U.S. Border Patrol. He had opened a
commercial photography shop in San Antonio in the 1920s and after his
retirement from the Army, moved the shop to Alpine, Texas, where he operated it
for another 30 years. While living in Alpine, Smithers wrote articles for the
El Paso Times,
Sul Ross Quarterly, and
Western Horseman. In 1974, he moved back
to El Paso from Alpine. Smithers died in Albqquerque, New Mexico in 1981.
Shortly before his death, Smithers' book
"Circuit Riders of the Big Bend" was
published by Texas Western Press, the University of Texas at El Paso, as part
of the Southwestern Studies Series.
Scope and Contents
The Smithers collection comprises primarily photographs of the Texas
borderlands and peoples, and military camps and forts. Most of the photographs
were taken in Texas but there are also images of Mexico, Utah, New Mexico and
other western states. Other subject matter that is of note are photographs of
early aviators and airplanes, as well as the Nature's Pharmacy Series which
details uses for several herbs and plants as used by the native peoples of the
region. Other series include those of images of schools and universities in
Texas and Mexico, newsworthy events, such as a trainwreck and construction of
the McDonald Observatory and Telescope, and religous subjects, such as
iconography and architecutre, Mexican religious festivities, and even the
Mormon Church. The dates of the photographs range from 1910 to 1968.
The collection is arranged according to the notes, written by
Smithers, that accompanied the photographs. These extensive notations on each
photograph are housed in a set of 3-ring binders in the Photography
Department's Reference Room. The photographs are boxed and numbered according
to Smithers' arrangement which has been preserved in this finding aid. They are
grouped by subject matter which are not in chronological order from series to
series. Almost the entire collection of prints is 20.2 x 25.5
cm, with the exception of the last box of miscellaneous prints which are not
listed in Smithers' inventory and range from snapshots to a print to be used
for a lampshade. In addition, some newspaper clippings and other print items
have been removed from the photograph collection and housed in the Smithers'
Manuscript Collection, also at the HRHRC.
Series Descriptions
Inventory of Nitrate Negatives - 6 boxes - Vault
W. D. Smithers--Container List
Inventory of Nitrate Negatives - 6 boxes - Vault
Some personal pritns in box marked Personal made 12/87.
Received after death.
Box 1
Request entire Box 1
Taken from File drawer of original negs; 55
folders
Box 2
Request entire Box 2
Prints made from N. N some [all] made by Duncan's negs -
some prints in Smithers boxes; 7 folders
Box 3
Request entire Box 3
NN most made by Duncan, given to Smithers 8
x 10 - 11 x 14 Master 1-20; Viewing 1-20; 21
folders
Box 4
Request entire Box 4
NN by Duncan and Smithers; 26 folders
Box 5
Request entire Box 5
Panoramics made by Duncan [rolled in white paper]; see
notebook for captions
