Join the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Dallas Historical Society and Dallas Center for Photography on Thursday, October 15 at 6:30pm CDT for a fascinating online event about Texas history, women photographers, photographic history and processes, Depression-era works, and the birth and history of Fair Park and its crown jewel, The Hall of State.
In 1935 a young photographer named Polly Smith was commissioned by officials of the Texas Centennial to travel around the state and make a series of photographs capturing the people and places that made Texas unique. The images were to coincide with the 100-year celebration of independence, and it was the first time that photography was used for state marketing and the promotion of tourism. A select group of those photos were printed using the unique orotone process and have been hanging in the Hall of State ever since.