Angelo State and West Texas Collection’s Annual ‘Picture Party’

The Friends of the Porter Henderson Library and West Texas Collection will host its second annual “picture party” to identify people and locations in historical Concho Valley photographs this Saturday in the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive, on the Angelo State University campus.The photos will be available for viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the University Center’s C.J. Davidson Conference Center. The event is open free to the public and provides an opportunity for area residents to help identify key photographs from the Concho Valley’s past for the historical record.

The photographs available for inspection will include those from a collection donated by the San Angelo Standard-Times from the 1970s and 1980s, including photos from local schools, stock shows and rodeos. Also available will be photos taken by late San Angelo professional photographer Lloyd Witter. The Witter photos are primarily unidentified portraits and range from the 1940s through the 1960s.

ASU’s West Texas Collection (WTC) will also provide unidentified photos from several of its major collections, including the Tom Green County Historical Society, Ray B. Johnson Collection, the Sanatorium at Carlsbad and others. One group of photos from the Historical Society includes unidentified San Angelo homes from the late 1800s through the 1970s.

"All are unidentified and we need to ID as many as possible,” said Suzanne Campbell, WTC director, “so we can preserve their place in history while there are still people around to identify that history.”

Information on joining and/or supporting the Friends of the Porter Henderson Library and West Texas Collection will also be available. There will also be a scanner available for participants to make copies of photos for a small fee.