Thomas Parker Emery Personal Papers SDASM.SC.10042
Alan Renga
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
10/20/2014
2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park
San Diego 92101
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
Title: Thomas Parker Emery Personal Papers
source:
Emery, Thomas Parker
Identifier/Call Number: SDASM.SC.10042
Physical Description:
0.44 Cubic Feet
one 12.5”x5”x10.25” box
Date (inclusive): 1935-2014
Abstract: Thomas Parker Emery - a local community college art instructor, mural painter, designer, and sculptor - was commissioned to
restore the March of Transportation murals painted by Juan Larrinaga in the Ford Building, which currently houses the San
Diego Air and Space Museum. This Collection includes materials related to the restoration and general information about the
San Diego Air and Space Museum.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
Some copyright may be reserved. Consult with the library director for more information.
Preferred Citation
[Item], [Filing Unit], [Series Title], [Subgroups], [Record Group Title and Number], [Repository “San Diego Air & Space Museum
Library & Archives”]
Biographical / Historical
The “Transportation Mural” was conceived by Orville Goldner and the prime artist, Juan Larrinaga, in September 1935 for the
California Pacific International Exposition when it was decided that the fair would run another year. While the Ford Company
pulled out of the exhibition the second year, they donated the structure and the building became The Great Hall of Transportation.
The Mural contained 281 single figures and 125 groups of figures. It was 18 feet high, excluding the border, and 468 feet
long. It was completed in six months.
After the exposition, the mural was largely ignored while the building went through various uses (including storage and a
welding school), until February 1979. When the Aerospace Museum prepared to move into the Ford Building following the Electrical
Building fire that destroyed much of the collection, various restoration efforts went underway. Thomas Parker Emery was commissioned
to restore the two murals painted by Juan Larrinaga (the other being the Explorer II mural). It took eight months to clean,
patch, and restore over 10,000 square feet of wall surface.
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of one 12.5”x5”x10.25” box containing correspondence, process journal, contract drafts, cost estimates,
information regarding the history of the San Diego Air & Space (Aerospace) Museum, and numerous artistic sketches and drawings.
Related Materials
Rolled Drawing D-2033 - the oversized final drawing of the mural.
Parker H. Jackson Collection - biographer of the California Pacific International Exposition, 1935’s supervising architect,
Richard S. Requa.
Ford Building Collection
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Balboa Park (San Diego, Calif.)
Ford Building (San Diego)
San Diego Air and Space Museum
Larrinaga, Juan
Emery, Thomas Parker
Folder 1 – Correspondence
Physical Description: 1. Letters from 1977 to 1979 at various stages of the restoration project.
Series II: Newspaper Clippings
Folder 2 -- News Clippings/Publicity
Physical Description: 1. Press release on history of murals, about the restoration project, and research material.
Folder 3 -- Murals History
Physical Description: 1. Papers discussing the restoration and original mural artists. 2. Several articles on the history of the murals and the
Ford Building. 3. Biography of Thomas Parker Emery; handwritten notes. 4. Cost estimates.
Folder 4 -- Murals -- 1979 and 1980 Cost Projections
Physical Description: 1. Scratch notes and 1979 accounting letter detailing cost projections for the mural.
Folder 5 -- Ford Building / City of San Diego Agreement
Physical Description: 1. Proposals and original 1980 agreement between the City of San Diego and Emery Studio (signed by Thomas Parker Emery) regarding
restoration work of the mural. 2. Sketches, design plans, and general information about the Ford Building.
Folder 6 -- Restoration of the March of Transportation Mural
Physical Description: Emery Studio's journal report of the restoration process, including workers, hours, supplies, chronological entries, and
photographs (2 copies).
Folder 7 -- Journal Report
Physical Description: 1. Original of Emery Studio's journal report (noted in Folder 6 above), without photographs.
Folder 8 -- Logs/Progress Reports
Physical Description: 1. Pages from the Progress Log notebook.
Folder 9 -- Plans
Physical Description: 1. Notes of step-by-step plans for the restoration project.
Series IV: Plans (continued)
Folder 1 -- Rotunda Entrance Portrait
Physical Description: 1. Information, sketches, and schematics regarding the Theodore Gildred Flight Rotunda.
Folder 2 -- Paint Restoration Notes
Physical Description: 1. Scratch notes on pigment for the mural. 2. One blueprint noting location of missing pigment.
Folder 3 -- Painting One Man Show
Physical Description: 1. Statement of purpose written by the artist, receipts, sketches, and cost estimates. 2. One edition of the "San Diego
Aero-Space Museum" newsletter, Summer 1981.
Folder 4 -- John Pheiler & Associates: Mission
Physical Description: 1. Notes on light projectors, supply estimates. 2. Various sketches of horses, wagons, and missions.
Folder 5 -- Aerospace Museum Christmas Cards
Physical Description: 1. Sketches and estimated sizes and costs for Museum Christmas cards, 1980, including product information forms.
Folder 6 -- Notes
Physical Description: 1. Miscellaneous notes on the restoration project.
Folder 7 -- Blueprints
Physical Description: 1. Blueprints from Selje, Bond, Stewart & Romberger, Interior Architecture: July 24, 1979 "Display Decks;" August 21, 1979,
"Plan of Exhibitry;" and undated, "Carrier Exhibit."
Folder 8 -- Mannequins
Physical Description: 1. Correspondence, and copies of sketches regarding the mannequins to be put on display in the Museum.
Folder 9 -- First & Redwood Painting
Physical Description: 1. Sketches for the Barnstorming Exhibit of mannequins with aircraft and cars, plus two photographs.
Folder 10 -- First & Redwood Mirrors
Physical Description: 1. Sketches and clothing notes. 2. One photo of Lt. Ellyson in experimental Curtiss Flying Boar, Hammondsport, NY, 1913.
Folder 11 -- Military Drawings and Mannequins
Physical Description: 1. Tracing paper sketches and copies of mannequin designs with aircraft, and proposal drafts for the sculpting of mannequin
heads.
Folder 12 -- Animal and Seahorse Drawings
Physical Description: 1. Sketches of sea life and animals. 2. One portrait sketch of an unknown man.
Folder 13 -- Seated Figure Drawings
Physical Description: 1. Sketches for armature and design for Elason seated figure. 2. Letter regarding the delayed flight of the Curtiss A-1.
3. Two Polaroid photos of the final figure.
Folder 14 -- Drawings / Sketches1.
Physical Description: 1. Miscellaneous rough sketches.
Folder 15 -- Photographs
Physical Description: 1. List describing photographs. 2. Copies of miscellaneous photographs.
Folder 16 – Mural Photographs – Start of Restoration (not digitized)
Folder 17 – Mural Photographs – Preparation, Black & White (not digitized)
Folder 18 – Mural Photographs – Scaffolding (not digitized)
Folder 19 – Mural Photographs – Before Restoration (not digitized)
Folder 20 – Mural Photographs – After Restoration, Panorama (not digitized)
Folder 21 – Mural Photographs – Explorer II (not digitized)
Folder 22 – Mural Photographs – Rotunda Mural (not digitized)
Folder 23 – Mural Photographs – Photographs of People (not digitized)
Series V: Photographs (cont)
Folder 1 – Mural Restoration – Slides (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 2 – Mural Photographs – Miscellaneous (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 3 – Mural Restoration – Negatives (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 4 – Mural Transparencies (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 5 -- Mural Photographs (digitized, Emery_0013 to Emery_0144)
Folder 6 – Mural Restoration Photos (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 7 – Slides, Not Mural Related (unsorted, not digitized)
Folder 8 – Original Sketches (digitized, Emery_0001 to Emery_0012)
Folder 9 – Oversized Mural Sketches and Drawings (not digitized)
