Ford, O'Neil, 1905-1982

O'Neil Ford (1905-1982) was a prominent architect in the southwestern United States whose work, dedicated to native architectural forms and hand craftwork, historic preservation, and innovative design, also extended nationally and internationally.

Born in Pink Hill, Tex., Otha Neil Ford's early education and employment was informed by the arts-and-crafts movement. When Ford was twelve years old he began to help support his family after his father's death in a railroad accident. His mother, Belle, had a strong interest and facility with handcrafts, and passed on those traits to Ford as well as his two siblings, who both followed careers in the decorative arts and contributed work to Ford's architectural projects. Ford's school education stopped after two years of college in Denton, Tex., and was supplemented by correspondence courses which represented his only formal architectural training. From 1926 to 1932 he worked in David R. Williams' office in Dallas. Ford's first profitable partnership was begun with Arch Swank in 1936; together they designed the Little Chapel in the Woods at Texas Women's University. Ford relocated to San Antonio while involved with the La Villita restoration project and in 1940 married Wanda Graham, daughter of San Antonio building preservationist Elizabeth Graham. From 1946 to 1953 Ford practiced in partnership with Jerry Rogers, with whom he tested the Youtz-Slick lift slab process in the design of the new Trinity University in San Antonio. O'Neil Ford & Associates was formed in 1953, succeeded in 1967 by a partnership with Boone Powell and Chris Carson that would last for the rest of Ford's career. Important projects for those two firms included the Texas Instruments Semiconductor Building, Skidmore College in New York, UT San Antonio, and the Marshall Steves residence. Ford was appointed to the National Council on the Arts in 1968, to the American Council for the Arts in Education in 1975, and to the advisory panel for federal Foreign Buildings Operations in 1977. The O'Neil Ford Centennial Chair of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin was created in 1983. O'Neil Ford died after a heart attack on July 20, 1982, aged 76, survived by his wife and four children.