The name Robert Runyon is associated with photographs of
Brownsville, Texas and surrounding cities of the Rio Grande Valley during the
early 1900’s into the 1920’s.
There were
others but they are not as well remembered since much of their work has lost to time.
A fraction of Runyon’s work survived but has been an invaluable resource to preservationists and historians. They give a
glimpse of a prosperous Brownsville experiencing an economic boom of expansion
and development of businesses.
Robert
Runyon eventually gave up his successful career as a photographer to devote more
time to his interest of botany and local politics.
The 1930s would herald a new generation of
photographers who adapted to new technologies specifically developed to ensure
that the record of their work would have a better chance of survival.
The era from the 1930s to early 1960s was filled by a few
photographers and as of this writing, there is no living person who can name
who they were and worse yet, what happened to all the photographs they
took. This article will examine the work
of one who up to today, was only known as “A. Rogers.” Manuel J. Morales,
a contemporary of Robert Runyon, was still in business by 1950 but much of his
work has been lost or stored away in private collections which may perhaps never be
seen by the public. Photographers still in operation by 1950 were: Rogers Studio, Burgess Studio, Holm Studio, K. Welch Studio, Alex Studio
and Morales Studio. Old family portraits
from the era might have a stamp on the backs of old photos to identify where
they were made.
Bronsbil Estacion was shown a collection of 4” x 5”
film negatives which were found by a collector in Austin, Texas when she made a
chance visit to a storage business which was selling off items stored
away by customers who forfeited their possessions by not paying overdue rental
charges. We’ll take a brief look at who
A. Pat Rogers was with future articles
about the subjects of his work taken from the collection which, for now, we’re
calling the Brownsville Treasure Collection of Photographs from the A. Rogers
Studio (late 1940s- early 1950’s).
Waldron, Arkansas was the birthplace of A. “Pat” Rogers in
either 1902 or 1904. He took an interest
in photography at an early age and gained ten years of commercial experience in
Greenville and Dallas before arriving in Brownsville, Texas to start on his own
in 1931. It took him a month to scout the
lower Rio Grande area before deciding on Brownsville and opened a studio on the second floor of
the Putegnat Building (1140 ½ ) E Elizabeth St.
While portrait photography was the mainstay of his business, he also
offered services in commercial photography, photo restoration, aerial
photography and expanded his talents as he adapted to newer technologies over
time such as motion pictures. In 1935 he was credited with
having filmed the “Tarpon Rodeo and the Brownsville shots of Flying the
Lindbergh Trail for Pan-American.”
Rogers was civically active in the community as a member of
the Methodist Church and local Lions Club.
He enjoyed hunting and fishing in Mexico with his best friend Bob Burns
who was also from Arkansas. He and his
wife had one child; a daughter. He quickly
adapted to advances in photography and joined the boards of the
Southwestern and Texas Professional Photographers Association as an advisory
member and was elected as vice-president that same year for the states
organization based in Fort Worth. By
1940 he relocated to E Levee St and expanded his services to include
blueprinting and selling of photo supplies to amateur photographers. By 1942 he became president of the Texas
Professional Photographers Association and was also a member of the Civil Air
Patrol, having learned to fly under the instruction of Les Mauldin who we
know built the first municipal airport and private landing field
in Brownsville, Texas. By 1945 he
purchased a building at 1336 E Elizabeth St and used it to open a music
store. Out of his own studio, Rogers
offered to produce sound recordings on phonograph records for his customers by
late 1946 and by 1948, the studio was serviced by John H. and Earl Hunter,
names synonymous with air conditioning.
Next door to the music business he had a new building erected to lease
office space on the second floor and house a men’s clothing store on the first
floor. Many new downtown buildings came
about during this era after building restrictions were lifted following World War II. By 1957 he
discontinued the portrait department and added the sales of greeting cards and
small electronics. Selling cameras and supplying materials to the growing number of amateur photographers sustained his business
while the demand for portrait photography was met by other local
photographers. His professional staff
was invaluable to him and able to continue the business a few years after his
sudden death in October of 1963.
This brief overview covers what we need to know about A
Rogers Studio for the time being. Future
posts will focus on his work and include additional details about the times and
brief histories about the businesses which will include H-E-B downtown,
Fisher’s Café, Cisneros Rocket service station No.5 on West Elizabeth St, to
name a few. The majority of the source
information was derived from NewspaperArchive.com (you can gain free access
from your local library), Brownsville Historical Association archives,
Ebay and the “Brownsville Treasure” collection
which includes some aerials, commercial photographs of businesses and street
scenes from 1948 to the mid-1950s. We
are eternally grateful to Nora Vasquez of Junk –N- Treasure antique store in
Brownsville, Texas for rescuing these precious images.
