Overview
| Repository | Office of the City Secretary Dallas Municipal Archives 1500 Marilla Street, 5D South Dallas, Texas 75201 |
| Creator | City of Dallas |
| Title | Memorials and Monuments |
| Dates | 1936, 1959-1982 |
| Quantity | 1.75 linear inches |
| Abstract | Correspondence, construction plans, photographic prints, and printed materials. |
| Identification | 1995-039 |
| Language | Records are in English |
Scope and Content
Collection documents the history of several City of Dallas-owned sculptures and monuments created or dedicated between 1936 and 1982.
The Robert E. Lee monument in Dallas’ Lee Park, the work of sculptor A. Phimister Proctor, was built at a cost of $50,000 raised over a period of eight years by the Dallas Southern Memorial Association. On June 12, 1936, the statue was unveiled by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in tandem with the opening day celebrations of the Texas Centennial Exposition. On September 14, 2017, the City of Dallas removed the statue from Lee Park when societal feelings towards Confederate statues began to change. The City Council also returned Lee Park to its original name of Oak Lawn Park.
The Spirit of Flight is a 17-foot-high sculpture by Austin sculptor Charles Umlauf marking the entrance to Love Field airport and was dedicated in 1959.
The John F. Kennedy Memorial, designed by Philip Johnson and dedicated in 1970, is located at Market and Commerce Streets in Dallas. Located 200 yards from where President Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson’s design is a cenotaph. The memorial is a square, roofless room, 30 feet high and 50 by 50 feet wide that sits in the middle of the city block. It has narrow openings facing north and south. The walls consist of 72 white pre-cast concrete columns, appearing to float with 29 inches above the ground.
The John Neely Bryan Log Cabin, purported home of Dallas’ founder, was “built of cedar logs before 1850” and has been rebuilt at several locations, primarily in Dallas’ central business district.
The Texas Ranger Monument, by Texas sculptor Waldine Tauch, was dedicated in 1961 at Love Field airport and was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earle Wyatt. The model for the sculpture was Captain Jay Banks, a retired Ranger from Company B in Dallas.
Collection contains typescript correspondence, construction plans, photographic prints, and printed materials.
Organization
The collection is arranged by subject.
Access
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Citation
Memorials and Monuments, 1936, 1959 -1982 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives
Related Materials
Index Terms
Dallas (Tex.) -- History -- Exhibitions
Dealey Plaza National Historic Landmark (Dallas, Tex.)
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Monuments
Parks -- Texas -- Dallas
Sculpture -- Texas -- Dallas
Container List
| 1 | 1 | Lee Memorial dedication program, 1936; honor guard list, undated |
| | 2 | Spirit of Flight unveiling invitations, 1961 |
| | 3 | Spirit of Flight Dedication guides, 1961 |
| | 4 | John F. Kennedy Memorial, printed report, circa 1964 |
| | 5 | Dealey Park dedication leaflet, 1982 |
| | 6 | Correspondence concerning the history and conservation of the John Neely Bryan cabin, 1971 |
| | 7 | Texas Ranger Monument unveiling invitations, photographic prints, sculpture base plans, artist correspondence and internal Park Board memorandum, 1959-1961 |
| | 8 | Texas Ranger Monument relocation memoranda, 1980 |