R.E. Proctor prints, 1973-2004.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Fifteen prints of pen-and-ink drawings of various historical buildings in Nashville, Tenn. and Sumner County, Tenn. ranging in size from 11 x 14 in. to 17 x 22 in.

Nashville subjects include the original Carnegie Library (2 prints); Howard School (2 copies); Howes Wilson Hall at Nashville General Hospital (2 copies); First Baptist Church; Holy Trinity Episcopal Church; and Belmont Mansion. Two blocks of buildings on Nashville's old Public Square are also subjects: the Adams Building showing the storefronts of Murdock Mendelsohn, J.S. Reeves, and D.F. Siler; and a building made out of Boseley stone, showing storefronts for W.S. Riddle Notion Company, Sam Lapidus Dry Goods, and Southern Coat and Dress Company. The Carnegie Library drawing was created in honor of the Nashville Public Library's centennial celebration in 2004 and was featured on various promotional materials produced by the library.

Sumner County subjects include: an old country store; Bush's Chapel; and an old country store and residence at South Tunnel. A print of an old mill at Pigeon Forge, Tenn. is also part of the collection

Cite as: R.E. Proctor Prints, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Copyright retained by donor. Copyright on Carnegie Library prints deeded to Nashville Public Library at time of acquisition.

R.E. Proctor;,Gift;,2002, 2003,Acc. RT-133, RT-134, RT-260.

R. E. (Raymond E.) Proctor was born in 1927 in Nashville, Tenn. He grew up in Nashville, attending Fall School and Howard School. He met his future wife, Mary Claye Smallwood at Howard School, and they were married in 1946. He worked in the retail shoe business for about sixteen years in managerial positions in Memphis and Nashville. He had drawn all of his life, did some drawings of house plans for friends, and decided to learn more about the construction business. He accompanied Neil Barker, a general contractor in Nashville, and learned on the job in an informal internship. After about 18 months, Barker said Proctor was ready to go into business for himself, and he did so under his own name in 1964. As a general contractor, he worked mostly on commercial and residential remodeling, retiring in the mid-1990s. Proctor had no formal artistic training, although he did take a two-year correspondence course in commercial art from Famous Artists in Connecticut during the 1950s. He has volunteered in the Special Collections Division of the Nashville Public Library since 2001.

In English

In possession of R.E. Proctor until time of donation to the library.

Rehouse,2006 ;,Linda Barnickel.

No further accruals are expected.