Joe P. Barentine III Collection

G.E. Tillar
 
 
Summary: Dallas attorney Joe P. Barentine III has served as a Tarrant County Archives volunteer since 2003. His extensive work with the Westbrook Hotel Collection housed in the Archives has won him recognition and awards. Barentine began donating material to the Archives, forming his own collection, in 2006. His collection includes post cards; various historical publications and art and theater programs; as well as numerous binders covering his unpublished research on Benjamin Johnston Tillar, who built the Westbrook Hotel, and his wife, Genevieve Eagon Tillar (1874-1961). The original Barentine gift encompasses an unpublished book and three binders filled with research collected concerning the Tillars. The author's search took him from local court records to New York City, NY; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Los Angeles, CA.; Little Rock, AR; Dallas, TX; Jefferson, TX; and Paris, France. Items in the Barentine Collection would be of interest to researchers on a variety of subjects including: Early 20th century Fort Worth, cattle business, oil business, Texas Wesleyan College, Woman's Club of Fort Worth, various Fort Worth families, labor costs in depression and early 1940's, early history of the art museums in Fort Worth, hospitals, YMCA, fascist organizations in the 1940's, the American Society of International Law, and many other subjects. There are extensive lists of the art purchases made by the various institutions using the Tillar Trust. Donor is also a member of Sons of the Republic of Texas and donated a copy of his family history.
  • The Quiet Philanthropist, Genevieve Eagon Tillar and her bequest of the Benjamin J. Tillar Memorial Trust to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, by J. P. Barentine, III. Dallas. 2006. This work focuses on the investments and philanthropy of Genevieve Eagon Tillar. Following her husband's death in 1923, she spent the rest of her life (d. 1961) investing his estate. She sold part of her Fort Worth property to the City of Ft Worth in 1941 for the construction of Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft and Tarrant Field (later Fort Worth Field, Carswell AFB, and NAS,JRB) prior to the United States entry into World War 2. Upon her death, she left three large bequests to local entities: Fort Worth Society of Crippled Children, Fort Worth Children's Hospital and the Fort Worth Art Association. Each of these has grown into larger facilities. The Crippled Children changed to the Easter Seal Society, the Children's Hospital is now W. I. Cook Fort Worth Children's Hospital and the Fort Worth Art Association was absorbed by various art museums, and is now known as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
  • Binder One: Probate material for J. T. W. Tillar, Antoinette Tillar, Garland Tillar, Benjamin J. Tillar, and Genevieve E. Tillar. Early biographical material about the Tillar and Eagon families.
  • Binder Two: Probates and contested wills of Genevieve E. Tillar, information on institutions to which she contributed, information about the Westbrook Hotel, correspondence from her time away from Fort Worth (New York City) which included correspondence with A. G. Carter., Van Zandt Smith with biographical material on him, occupancy/business maps of Fort Worth, American Society of International Law in Washington D. C., and her marriage to Allen Zoll in 1953 (later annulled), with information on his various extreme right wing political involvements.
  • Binder Three: More information about Allen Zoll, her gift on Lake Worth that led to development of YMCA camp, Camp Carter, information and correspondence concerning the art that has been purchased by the Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
  • The Texas State Historical Association, 109th Annual Meeting. March 3-5, 2005, Radisson Plaza Hotel, Fort Worth. Program for meeting.
  • Postcard: Westbrook Hotel from Main, showing 4th Street, c. late 1910's
  • Postcard: Westbrook Hotel, drawing, 1951 postmark
  • Postcard: Dining Room, Metropolitan Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Harris Memorial Methodist Hospital, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Westmoor Courts (Where the West and Rest Begins). Highway 80 west of Ft. Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Tarrant County Courthouse, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Interior Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas, 1913
  • Postcard: Lobby, Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Lobby, Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth (Frey Post Card)
  • Postcard: Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas (Seawall Specialty Co.)
  • Postcard: The Westbrook, Fort Worth, Texas (Post Office News Shop)
  • Postcard: The Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Postcard: Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas (Acmegraph Co.)
  • Postcard: The Westbrook, Fort Worth, Texas (E. C. Kropp)
  • Postcard: The Westbrook, Fort Worth, Texas (Mid-West Map Co.)
  • Postcard: The Westbrook, Fort Worth, Texas (Mid-West Map Co.) with message on back dated Jan 19, 1940.
  • Photograph: Genevieve Tillar receiving honorary degree from Dr. Law Sone, Texas Wesleyan College. Mr. J. W. Mitchell in center, Dr. Walter Glick, College Dean in background. May 1941. Black and white photo, UTA Special Collections, Fort Worth Star-Telegram collections.
  • Photograph: Westbrook Hotel lobby, believed to be from 1913. Black and white photo,
    UTA Special Collections, Fort Worth Star-Telegram collection.
  • Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth Images 1976. CD with photos taken by P. H. Hoffmann, Crawley, U.K. Copyright by P M Hoffmann, 1976. Hoffmann took images in 1976 when he was a MFA student at TCU.
  • Westbrook Hotel Fort Worth 1976 PICASA2 SlideShow. CD . Taken by P. H. Hoffmann. Copyright 1976.
  • Letter: From Paul Hoffmann to Joe Barentine, August 2005.
  • Two compact discs sent by donor: Amon G. Carter Miscellaneous files, private collection. Inventory. TCU Library, Special Collections. (2003)
  • Benjamin J. Tillar photograph collection taken by Joe Barentine, October 2004. Also included are photographs collected by donor for inclusion in his publication: The Quiet Philanthropist, Genevieve Eagon Tillar and her bequest of the Benjamin J. Tillar Memorial Trust to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
  • Two compact discs sent by donor: Amon G. Carter Miscellaneous files, private collection. Inventory. TCU Library, Special Collections. (2003)
  • Various copies from publications related to donor's research on Benjamin J. Tillar and his wife, Genevieve E. Tillar
  • Survey notes by Brookes Baker, Civil Engineer, for land to be donated for YMCA Camp Carter, in the J. L. Hansborough and N.H. Carroll surveys, Tarrant County. March 16, 1940. Attached map showing approximate location.
  • Benjamin Johnston Tillar biography from The Book of Fort Worth, 1913. Published by the Fort Worth Record.
  • J. T. W. Tillar, portrait copy, by Jenny Eakin Delony (1866-1949). Subject was father of Benjamin Tillar. Westbrook Hotel, Fort Worth, is named for him.
  • Note from donor, March 17, 2005, to Susan Pritchett, Tarrant County Archives
  • Book: Explorations in Managing, Allen A. Zoll III Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, Menlo Park, CA. 1974. Hardback with cover. (2 newspaper clippings were in book: GM layoff policy to go easy on young women, minorities, and Raise a Glass to the Foreman and Salesman)
  • Book: Can We Afford Academic Freedom? A discussion by Carey McWilliams, Allen A. Zoll, and McGeorge Bundy. A Discussion Sponsored by The Harvard Law School Forum. The Beacon Press, 1952. Booklet, 34 pages, paper cover
  • Book: Texas Almanac, 2008-2009, Published by the Dallas Morning News
  • The purpose of these 2 additions to the collection is to broaden the understanding of the second husband of Genevieve Tillar (Westbrook Hotel collection), Allen A. Zoll. (The book on management was written by the grandson and actually has little bearing on the older Zoll)
  • Binder: Copies of photographs and documents in the Tillar-Westbrook Hotel collection. (Photograph of Westbrook Hotel on front cover and enlarged photo of a Westbrook matchbook cover on the back.) Westbrook Hotel matchbook cover, date unknown.
  • Texas Heritage, a publication of the Texas Historical Foundation, beginning Volume 4, 2008
  • Contents related to the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: May 22-June 7, 2009:
          1. Program: 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, May 22-June 7, 2009 (contains photos and bios of competitors, judges, past history of event)
          2. Program: The Preliminary Round: May 22-26, 2009
          3. Program: The Semifinal Round: May 28-31, 2009
          4. Program: The Final Round and Gala Awards ceremony (June 3-7, 2009)
          5. Live webcast program for the final performances
          6. Program for piano performance by Van Cliburn, 1969, University of Texas at Austin, The Texas Union. Program signed by Van Cliburn and President Lyndon B. Johnson. (This program will be placed in archives safe.)
  • Westbrook Hotel, c. 1911, S. H. Kress edition. Hand-drawn view showing Fourth Street facade, Main Street entrance, with cars and people are drawn in
  • Westbrook Hotel, c. 1911, rotogravure print of 4th Street facade, Main Street entrance showing neighboring buildings on Main Street. Tinted.
  • Westbrook Hotel lobby, showing Golden Goddess and stairs to mezzanine, registration desk shown to right. Hinsdale photo, published by S. H. Kress. Postmark and message on back date to June 1911
  • Westbrook Hotel lobby, showing Golden Goddess with many palm plants. Seawall Specialty Co., Galveston, publisher
  • Westbrook Hotel, showing 4th Street facade from Houston Street, 1920's. Published by Post Office News Shop, Fort Worth. Tinted.
  • Westbrook Hotel: The Westbrook: A Friendly Hotel in a Friendly City, Rates $ 1.50 and $ 2.00 Fort Worth, Texas. Made in U.S.A. by E. C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wis.
  • Westbrook Hotel, c.1911, soon after opening of hotel. Colored view looking
    north west across 4th Street showing hotel entrance on Main, and 4th street towards Houston Street. Frey Wholesale Postcard Company, Dallas
  • Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco. Huckins-Newcomb Hotel Co. L. W. Huckins, managing director (1920's). Huckins was a manager at the Westbrook in Fort Worth. It is believed the Tillar family was invested in this hotel as well. Published by E. C. Kropp, Co, Milwaukee, Wis.
  • Westbrook Hotel Boxes, 1-25, inventory on compact disc (CD)
  • Westbrook Hotel Boxes 26-75, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Boxes 76-100, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Boxes, 101-137, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Boxes, 1-75, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Ledgers, 140-165, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Ledgers, 141-199, inventory on CD
  • Westbrook Hotel Record Books, 200-225, inventory on CD
  • Photographs on disc of Westbrook Hotel Ledgers, Ledger Number 140-180, listed by ledger, some pages are photographed, on CD
  • Westbrook Boxes, photos only of boxes 1-137, record books 181-217
  • Photographs of Tillar mausoleum, J. T. W. Tillar, Westbrook Implosion, collection in old location, new location at Plaza Building, Pamela Smith working, Dr. Eagon letter to daughter, Elvis Presley registration card, and C. J. Cooper commendation signed by Knute Rockne, also photographs of ledgers 140-179, on CD
  • Tillar Photographs, 2008. Photos of Tillar family, home in Washington DC, 3 Hills grave sites in Dallas, home in Jefferson on CD
  • Stanley Kubrick's Boxes, Sundance film on CD
  • Book: Bartholomew's Song, A Bayou History, by Rebecca DeArmond-Huskey. Heritage Books, Maryland. 2008. paper cover. History includes county in Arkansas that was home base to the Tillar family. Pages 53-59, pages 62-63.

 

 

  • At the Modern, Spring 2005. Museum publication
  • Texas State Historical Association, 114th Annual Meeting, program March 4-6, 2010. Dallas
  • Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 2010, 2011, 2012
Materials unrelated to Westbook Hotel and Tillar Family
  • Book: Capitols of Texas by Seymour V. Connor, et. al Texian Press, Waco, 1970
  • Catalog: Inaugural Exhibition of the Fort Worth Art Center, October 8 to 31, 1954, 65 pages (image shown)
  • Article: "Elvis in Texas" Texas Highways Magazine December 2012
  • Family Documentation: Barentine, Allred, Miller, and King Families

Correspondence between Joe P. Barentine III and Vernon Nikkel. The two began exchanging letters in 2005 and continued until Nikkel’s death in 2010. The correspondence largely covers art in all its various forms -- paintings, sculptures, drawings and fashion. It also covers art collecting, legal aspects of art, art theory and art history. As a volunteer docent at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Barentine began researching the purchases made using the Benjamin J. Tillar Trust Fund. Among these purchases were Twenty-Five Colored Marilyns by Andy Warhol and Mr. Bellamy by Roy Lichtenstein.  Through his research, Barentine discovered that Vernon Nikkel sold these two art pieces to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and reached out to him for background information on the purchase. The two developed a friendship through letter writing and their shared love of art.

  • Box One, 2005-2006: This box contains the beginning of Joe P. Barentine III and Vernon Nikkel’s correspondence from 2005 to 2006. It also contains various clippings, magazines, exhibit brochures and photographs of art that they exchanged with one another.
  • Box Two, 2007-2008: This box contains the correspondence of Joe P. Barentine III and Vernon Nikkel from 2007 to 2008. Also included are various clippings, magazines, exhibit brochures, and photographs of various forms of art that they exchanged through the mail.
  • Box Three, 2008-2009: This box contains the correspondence of Joe P. Barentine III and Vernon Nikkel from 2008 to 2009. Also included are various clippings, magazines, exhibit brochures, and photographs of various forms of art they shared with one another.
  • Box Four, 2010-2015: The contents of this box include the final correspondence of Vernon Nikkel and Joe P. Barentine III before Nikkel’s death in 2010. This box contains the obituary of Nikkel and two albums of his drawings and photographs. Also included is Barentine’s correspondence with Nikkel’s nephew Phil Critelli, correspondence with mutual friend Peter Walch, and correspondence with the University of New Mexico Art Museum. In addition to correspondence are various books, magazines and clippings on art.
This page was last modified on June 23, 2017

TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

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