Book by college's founder among
reference materials donated to TRC

A book by Frederick Giesecke, founder of Texas A&M's architecture program, is part of a former student's reference book collection recently donated to the College of Architecture's reference library.

Charles S. Carleton, who earned a bachelor of architecture degree in 1947, then had a lengthy and successful career, died in 2006 at age 94. His son, Robert, donated the collection Nov. 4 to the college's Technical Reference Center.

"Dad would be very happy if he knew something of his was back on campus," said Robert.

Among the materials is a 1940 book, "Technical Drawing," by Giesecke, who founded the program in 1905, with co-authors Alva Mitchell and Henry Spencer. Giesecke designed and supervised the construction of many campus buildings still standing today, including the Academic Building, the Chemistry Building, the Williams Building, Cushing Library and Hart and Walton halls.

Other donations include:

• "Plane Trigonometry," John W. Young and Frank M. Morgan, 1926;
• "Architectural Shades and Shadows," Henry McGoodwin, 1926;
• "Steam Tables: Properties of Saturated and Superheated Steam," The Superheater Company, 1931; and
• "Heating and Ventilation," John R. Allen and James H. Walker.

Charles studied under Earnest Langford, who headed the program from 1929-56, and Bill Caudill, who went on to found the groundbreaking firm CRS.

"Architecture and construction were his passion," said Robert about his father. "He worked for firms in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. He retired from PageSoutherlandPage in Austin in 1987 and moved to Shreveport, La., working at Good Shepherd Hospital until 1989, when he left to care for his wife," he said.

Learn more about Frederick Giesecke

- Posted: Nov.30, 2009-