ENPages That Mention Birmingham, Alabama
AIA Southern Chapter Proceedings
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14 THE SOUTHERN CHAPTER, A. I. A.
Western brethren in the profession and reap the benefits to be derived from a united interest in our chosen profession.
I will close by quoting a sentence taken from the Journal of Architecture, of Philadelphia, which expresses fully the object of our assembly to-day; "Architects as a fraternity should, by their intermingling and interchange of ideas, by their unremitted and unanimous action, and, if possible, in a broad and all-embracing organization, working from within by and upon its membership, attempt to render the methods and practice of architecture more uniform, raise the average standard of design, and by making all true criteria of architectural merit more generally known and more universally adopted, pave the only highway to the popularity of true architecture which seems at present to be open."
The President: 'The next thing in order is the report of the Board of Directors.
The Secretary : As sec'y of the Board of Directors I wish to state that but one meeting of the Board of Directors was held in 1892, which occurred at Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 1st. At this meeting the letter ballot, similar to that used by the A. I. A. was adopted. The Board of Directors also instructed the Secretary to have a Certificate of Membership engraved with such conditions shown in its face as render it void after the following annual meeting, a copy of which, properly filled out, to be given to each Fellow, upon the full payment of all dues for the current year. A copy of this certificate is herewith submitted for your consideration. It was further ordered that Fellows of the A. I. A. requesting membership in this Chapter be excused from furnishing photographs or other drawings as evidence of their professional ability, but in other respects the application blank to be filled out by each applicant and endorsed in the usual way.
The Board of Directors held a meeting this morning prior to the assembling of this Convention, and after considering the applications filed in proper form with the Secretary, they recommend for membership the following named architects, viz.: W. E. Hall, Winston, N. C.; Tom Wood, Sherman, Tex., ; C. H. Read, Jr.., Richmond, Va.; G. W. E. Field, Richmond, Va.; J. G. Barnwell, Rome, Ga.; C. C. Wilson, Roanoke, Va.; J. W. McClain, Birmingham, Ala.; E. W. Smith, Lexington, Ky.; Geo. W. Stewart, Dallas, Texas ; Harry D. Breeding, Huntsville, Ala.; P. S. Rabbit, Galveston, Tex.; J. A. Tempest, Houston, Tex.; W. A. Bird, Bir-
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THE SOUTHERN CHAPTER, A. I. A. I5
mingham, Ala.; Wm. Stanton, Vicksburg, Miss.; W. Chamberlin, Knoxville, Tennessee; T. H. Abrahams, Charleston, South Carolina; B. B. Davis, Paducah, Kentucky; H. H. Huggins, Roanoke, Va.; F. L. Smith, Lexington, Kentucky; Geo. E. Dickey, Houston, Tex.; J. Riely Gordon, San Antonia, Tex.; Henry C. Holland, Houston, Tex.; C. W. Bulger, Galveston, Tex.; W. T. Walker, Montgomery, Alabama
On motion of Mr. Helmich the report of the Directors was adopted and ordered to be spread upon the Minutes of the meeting.
On motion of Mr. Goodrich the letter ballot was suspended and the above named architects were unanimously elected Fellows of this Chapter.
On motion of Mr. Wheelock the Chair appointed a committee (consisting of Mr. Lind and Mr. C. Wheelock) to notify the applicants present of their election.
The President: The next thing in order will be the report of the Committee on Charter.
The Secretary : As a member of this committee I beg to report that the Charter has been obtained from the American Institute of Architects, and is here for examination by the members present.
On motion of Mr. Goodrich the report of the committee was accepted and the committee discharged.
The President: The next thing in order will be the report of Committee on Seal.
The Secretary : As a member of this committee I beg to state that the design of the seal was chosen by your committee from a number of designs submitted, and the seal was engraved and furnished by the American Seal Works.
On motion of Mr. Goodrich the report of the committee was adopted and the committee discharged.
The President: Mr. Wheelock; Chairman of Local Committee of Reception, wishes to make a statement regarding the presence of members of the Legislature of Alabama, who are now in the city.
Mr. Wheelock: I wish to state that I have had a conference with several members of the Legislature regarding the anticipated bills to be presented to the Legislatures of the
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Southern States in regard to laws controlling the practice of architecture, and it is necessary that we now appoint a time to give these gentlemen a hearing, and I move that three o'clock to-morrow evening be set as the time for this conference.
Which motion was unanimously carried.
At this point Mr. Bassett read an address from Mr. Hubner, editor of ''The Southern Architect," who was unavoidably prevented from attending:
GREETING OF THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.
To the Members of the Southern Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in Annual Session at Birmingham, Alabama:
GENTLEMEN: No profession is more thoroughly identified with the material progress of this section of our country, or more instrumental in developing a taste for the beautiful in Art, than the men who honor the profession of Architecture. No part of our great Republic has cause to be prouder of its representative architects than the South. Along with the wonderful progress of the Southern States since the war, in material prosperity and industrial growth, wealth and power, there has been apparent an encouraging development of the art-taste among our people in its architectural side. This finds expression in numerous grand public buildings and handsome private residences; and this practical art-taste has been promoted and fostered by educated and experienced architects in our midst, whose wholesome influences and whose respect for the classic models of their art, have largely contributed in suppressing the vulgar and bizarre, and in bringing about among our people the good taste increasingly expressing itself to-day in the architectural appearance of our towns and cities, in public edifices and private residences, as well as in the tasteful homes of our suburban and rural districts.
In view of these facts it is certainly a gratifying spectacle to see, gathered in this renowned and prosperous city, a body of men who are co-workers in this grand work, who worthily represent their noble profession, and to whose labor, zeal, fidelity and culture, the remarkable development of the art-taste of the New South, already alluded to, is largely due.
The organization of the Southern Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was a happy thought of those who conceived it, and the results thereof have proved the wisdom of their conception, and its practical value to the profession in the South. All honor is due to the founders and promoters of this Chapter, and they will be held in grateful remembrance as long as the beneficial influences of this organization shall exist.
Beginning with a few zealous members, and under many disadvan-
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carpenter's trade. 'These men have, in some instances, familiarized themselves with a few plans and specifications prepared by architects, and have finally essayed the practice of architecture; and in most cases the community loses a good builder and gains a person too large in his own estimation for the honorable trade, and yet greatly too small for the profession he calls "Arch e tecturing."
The trade of a builder is a most honorable one, and carries with it great responsibilities; and its emoulments are always satisfactory and often large; and there is always room in any community for a good builder while there should be no room for a pretender.
It would be impossible in this paper to enter into a criticism of the drawings furnished by builders and to follow them up and examine the building erected from them; but suffice it to say, they are in almost every case crude, raw, and undigested, and even to the uneducated eye there is something that stamps them as builders' drawings, and the house erected from them is neither in design a thing of beauty nor in plan a joy forever.
The question is how shall we seek to remedy this evil. The fault lay not at the door of the builder; for he, in making these so-called architectural designs, is but supplying a demand of the public, the masses who are too often ignorant and careless in all matters of architecture, and who, thinking to save the professional fee, will expend often twice the amount of this fee in patching up mistakes in faulty plans and specifications, and inflict on the community a Dolly Varden monstrosity.
We can only hope for an improvement by the gradual education of the public to a higher standard in architecture. That this standard is improving, there is little doubt; and here in the South-land, which we all love so well, and in whose development we are peculiarly interested, there isa growing demand for better things, and the public is discriminating between good and bad architecture. This is the age of travel and observation, and much is learned by comparison. Art is now diffusing itself into everything, and this is seen in the simplest forms of household decoration; and the child of today is surrounded and educated by artistic objects that were not thought of in our boyhood days.
And so it behooves us now, one and all, to strive for this end; and with unceasing study and the careful preparation of every detail of design, both in small as in large buildings, to improve the architecture of the South, and to place it on a level with that of any other part of this land. Nature has been most bountiful and the resources of our country are unlimited; and we desire the traveler in the future to pause and admire and study our architecture as well as our history.
At this point. Mr. W. S. Smith, of Birmingham, offered a resolution looking to the strengthening of this Chapter by further obtaining a charter from the State of Alabama, which elicited considerable discussion and was finally referred to a