THE WAY THINGS WERE

"The Way Things Were" is a photographic essay on personal and community values of an earlier age, traced through private and public structures that have weathered the momentous events and changing directions of twentieth-century Texas. It is a brief survey of human hopes and needs, of the ambitious ventures and failed visions that make up the history of the common folk who created homes and communities in Texas. Most of the structures in these photographs are not listed on any historical register as being worthy of preservation, and some clearly are not worth the effort and expense. Yet they all register the history of people and settlements, and as long as they stand, they preserve the spirit of human continuity and change.

The photographs in this pictorial essay have been contributed by Tom Prather, Austin; Jeffery Altwies, Arlington; and the Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth.

The organization and distribution of this exhibition were underwritten by grants from the Texas Council for the Humanities.