Heritage, Volume 10, Number 4, Fall 1992 Page: 15
28 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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H istoric restoration and preservation
is a relatively new discipline and has
received little attention, with minor exceptions,
until modem times. Preservation,
let alone restoration of historically significant
buildings was left largely to individuals
or families interested in preserving some
particular structure. Usually the key word
was utility since those who were doing the
restoration occupied the building.
Survival of historically important buildings
in Texas, like in the rest of the nation,
was due mostly to accident, since there was
little public awareness or support for such
endeavors. The exception might be the
Alamo, but even it survived because the
United States Army had maintained it as a
military post since the Mexican War. By
the late 19th century, the City of San
Antonio had so encroached upon the old
mission that little remained except the
chapel. San Antonio pioneered much of
the historic preservation movement in
Texas. Adina de Zavala in the 1800s voiced
concern over the rapidly deteriorating
missions in the city. As a result the state
purchased the chapel in 1883 and gave the
city custody with the proviso that the
building must be preserved. The Daughters
of the Republic of Texas was organized in
1891 under the leadership of de Zavala and
Clara Driscoll, for the "preservation of historic
documents and relics," and their main
goal was the preservation of the Alamo.
Their campaign bore fruit when the legislature
acquired the land adjacent to the chapel
in 1905 and gave perpetual stewardship of
the Alamo to the Daughters.
The State Legislature created a number
of historical boards, but the first to really
function was the Texas Centennial Commission.
Funded by state and federal money,
the commission encouraged a wide variety
of activities across the state. Finally, the
Texas Historical Commission was established
in 1953, although the present title
was not adopted until later.
As the restoration movement began to
grow, a young architect, Raiford Stripling,
was graduated from Texas A&M College
in 1931. One of his teachers and his mentor,
Samuel Vosper, had a varied career as
teacher, artist, architect, and preservationist.
Vosper, although not a native Texan,was an enthusiastic student of Texas history,
and took long trips, often taking
Stripling along, photographing and drawing
distinctive old buildings across the state.The Vosper Collection, now deposited in
the Texas A&M Archives, contains photographs
of many fine old buildings long
since destroyed. Stripling grew up with a
feeling and understanding of history because
San Augustine, his hometown,
claimed 34 medallion structures with historical,
cultural, and architectural significance.After graduation, Stripling was hired by
Texas A&M as a draftsman and personal
assistant for Vosper, who was in charge of
designing the new buildings being constructed
on campus. As the work was completed
at A&M late in 1933, Vosper used
his influence to get Stripling a position
with the Work Progress Administration in
Austin, and while employed by this federal
agency he detailed much of the University
Tower. It was during this time that he
worked with the late O'Neal Ford, who
gained recognition as a leading restoration
architect for his work on San Jose Mission,
La Villita, and other projects in San Antonio.Vosper accepted a position with the
National Park Service in 1935 and was
assigned the task of restoring Mission Espiritu
Santo at Goliad, and asked Stripling
to serve as his assistant. Stripling entered
historic preservation with little technical
knowledge, but he had good common sense,
a sound foundation in architecture, respect
for history, and a strong sense of honesty
and integrity. It must be remembered that
while new techniques were being developed
at Williamsburg and Jamestown, dissemination
was limited. Thus Stripling was a
pioneer, and he, with Vosper and others,
independently developed methods and
techniques of restoration, which time has
proven to be scientifically and historically
sound.
Stripling's philosophy of restoration
made a cardinal point of the belief that the
work should be as accurate as possible. If
something was more of a guess, that guess
should be an educated one, and duly recorded.
Another major tenet in his creed
was that a decision must be made as early as
possible as to what period, phase, time, or
state to which the structure should be restored.
He began each project with an
exhaustive on-site survey. Where possible,
local individuals, organizations, and records
were consulted. Historical records weremined to learn as much as possible about
the site as it existed at a specific time.
Archaeologists were called upon to locate
and analyze features and materials belowgrade. This attention to detail early in the
project saved many hours of anguish later
on. Often, as work progressed, information
surfaced that either contradicted or reinforced
previous notions. As Stripling's philosophy
matured he came to hold a deep
respect for the craftsmen of the past who
created works of art with simple hand tools.
His fervor for historical detail and accuracy
often put him at odds with those who had
preconceived ideas or who were in favor of
expediency. Certainly he appreciated the
problems of time and money, but he maintained
those factors "never give license for
inaccuracy and misrepresentation."
Vosper and Stripling were forced to
reconstruct large parts of Espiritu Santo
because the walls had been robbed for stone
through the years due to its proximity to
Goliad, and only one building, the Granary,
still stood. The church was restored to its
former glory and the barrel vaulted ceiling
was rebuilt. Some have questioned whether
the original building was vaulted, but
Stripling pointed out that parts of the
original roof were found in the rubble, and
it was clearly vaulted. As Texas began to
gear up for her centennial in 1936, Stripling
was also assigned the task of reconstructing
Fort Parker, of Cynthia Ann fame,
near Mexia. The reconstruction followed
the cedar post pattern of the old fort that
archaeological excavation revealed, but the
upper parts of the structure could only be
an educated guess. Many people, however,
question the value of hypothetical reconstructions
including Stripling's other one
at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Independence
Hall.
At the onset of World War II, Stripling
was working on Rosario, the sister mission
to Espiritu Santo. He had progressed in
1941 to the point of exposing the compound
walls and stabilizing the remaining standing
walls. Realizing that restoration activities
would soon be terminated in favor
or war-related work, he had his crew cover
the excavation, for its protection. The state
now has Rosario fenced for its protection,
and it remains basically as it was left by
Stripling.
Like most men of his generation who
joined the war effort, Raiford Stripling
served in World War II, in his case in the
Navy. At the end of the war he returned to
Texas and lived in a number of places untilfinally returning to San Augustine. For
several years he practiced general architecture,
but in 1953 he re-entered historical
preservation with the restoration of ChristHERITAGE * FALL 1992 15
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 10, Number 4, Fall 1992, periodical, Autumn 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45421/m1/15/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.