F. Blair Reeves Papers
Scope and Content
This collection contains reports, grant applications, correspondence, class materials (as course descriptions and requirements), committee information (as agendas and memoranda), professional organization materials, and projects (including many student projects). In addition to folders there are 17 loose leaf binders dated from 1970 to 1987 which document through correspondence, descriptions, reports, lists of student participants, itemized budgets, projects, schedules of events, and sometimes photographs the summer program at Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N). This program is an accredited academic program which teaches architectural preservation to advanced college students. Nantucket, which founded the institute, serves as a laboratory for study because of the uniqueness of its heritage.
A 2009 Addendum to this collection includes photographic materials. The first part of this addendum includes photographic negatives and prints. The subjects include students, their projects, faculty, consultants, professional workshops, and other events which record the history of the Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N) from 1972-1987. There are also some negatives, contact sheets, and a few prints dated post 1987 which were taken during Ron Haase's term. The second part contains an assortment of photographs, contact sheets, and negatives which document the history of the University of Florida academic architectural preservation programs during the years 1960-1987.
A 2011 addendum to the collection primarily pertains to historic preservation in Florida. There are numerous files pertaining to historic preservation in Florida, which are organized by counties and cities. The files in this group typically contain historical information about structures, National Register nomination forms, Florida Master Site File forms, and photos of the structures. The second largest group of materials is comprised of Photos of Florida, which also are organized by geography and were filed separately from the Florida historic preservation files. Many of the files in these two groups were used by Reeves in preparing publications including, A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture. The 2011 addendum also includes a small numbers of photos of non-Florida places and of people, including Reeves. There is a small group of miscellaneous papers, which pertain to the UF School of Architecture, preservation activities in other states, and general preservation education materials. Finally, this addendum includes audiovisual recordings of meetings of PI:N and a selection of instruments and tools used by Reeves in his work.
A 2020 addendum to the collection includes a variety of PI:N files primarily documenting Reeves' work with PI:N and Florida historic preservation. Included are Reeves' lectures and publications, awards, professional career histories, histories of the P:IN program, scrapbooks, photographs, slide collections, and videos.
Dates
- Creation: 1957-2012
Creator
- Reeves, F. Blair, 1922- (Person)
Access
University Archives collections are available for research. Portions of the collections may be restricted due to the requirements of applicable state and federal laws, including but not limited to FERPA and HIPAA, and in accordance with best practices as defined by the Society of American Archivists.
Biographical/Historical Note
Professor F. Blair Reeves served as a member of the faculty of Architecture at the University of Florida from 1949 to 1987 when he became a professor emeritus. Throughout his academic career Dr. Reeves was very active in the area of architectural preservation both in teaching and in professional organizations. For instance, he was an active participant in HABS (Historic American Building Survey) which was founded in 1933 and through careful documentation recorded over 17,000 historic American sites. During the summer months Dr. Reeves involved his students in projects which were organized to locate and preserve buildings uniquely valuable for their historic and architectural significance to the state of Florida that would otherwise be lost through reckless renovation or razing as a consequence of the rapidity of Florida's development. He also served on the executive committee to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private institution designed to secure funding for the renovation of structures owned by the private sector and other facets of national heritage that were not receiving appropriate governmental attention. Dr. Reeves served as chair of the UF Bicentennial Committee and in this capacity planned and oversaw many projects undertaken at the University of Florida as well as the community at large. He was involved with teaching, planning, and supervising the annual summer program at Nantucket known as Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N). Dr. Reeves first took his students to Nantucket in 1970 as part of the HABS work two years before the Institute was founded. The Research and Education Center for Architectural Preservation (RECAP), a multi-disciplinary approach, which became the focus for the study of architectural preservation was yet another program to which Dr. Reeves devoted his time and effort as director from 1983 to 1986.
Extent
19.68 Linear feet (38 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Reports, correspondence, class materials, project files, photos and information about historic preservation in Florida, material on the Preservation Institute's summer program at Nantucket, files on the University of Florida's Bicentennial Committee.
Physical Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Alternative Format Available
Digital reproductions of selected items in the F. Blair Reeves Papers are available online via the Universityof Florida Digital Collections (UFDC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright, fairuse, and use of UFDC digital objects.
Subject
- University of Florida. Bicentennial Committee. (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- A Guide to the F. Blair Reeves Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Joyce Dewsbury
- Date
- March 2005 (Updated November 2020)
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu