Week 8: HABS

Light at NostalgiaHistoric American Building Survey

The historic American Building Survey is commonly abbreviated HABS. It is a documentation collection of historic buildings. It started during times of depression to give people jobs. The jobs given were along the lines of surveying buildings. HABS has around 556,000 architectural drawings. The documentation for the buildings typically includes a photograph of each elevation, and data pages that tell information about the building. Sometimes it includes architectural drawings, but not always. The Ramsey House, The William Blount Mansion, and the Tennessee School for the Deaf are some of the buildings from Knoxville that are in the HABS collection.

The process is to record each elevation through photographs and research the information for the data pages. This information includes the architect, the date it was built, who owned it, and other historical information. If the drawings are available they are also included in the documentation.

Tongue and Groove Board This Week

This week I hung a tiffany style lamp from the L&N Station in the Nostalgia booth for Knox Salvage. We received a donation of tongue and groove boards. I separated the complete pieces from the broken pieces and measured the linear square feet of the complete pieces. I learned how to remove hardware from an antique door, and addressed letters to donors. I attended a Summer Supper meeting at Professor Davis’s house in Sequoia Hills. I also went to a meeting of the Events Committee. We discussed an upcoming Auction to raise money for Knox Heritage.

Casey at Knox HeritageNew Person

This week I am introducing Casey Fitzgerald. Her title at Knox Heritage is Administrative Assistant. She goes to University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is Sandy Martin’s daughter. Last semester I had Sandy Martin for my Interior Design Business class. Sandy is on the Knox Heritage Board, and that is how Casey found out about the position. Casey and I share a passion for horses. We both enjoy jumping and like to watch the Rolex Horse Show. We also both went to high school in Knoxville.