Squire Haskins Photography, Inc.

Lewis Benjamin Squire Haskins, Jr. (1913-1984) was widely considered among the premier aerial photographers in the Southwest. Born in Palestine, Texas, he and his family moved to the Dallas area in 1916. His father, the Rev. Lewis Benjamin L. B. Haskins, Sr., helped establish the Mount Auburn, Greenville Avenue and Trinity Heights Christian churches, and later was pastor of Oak Cliff Christian Church. Squire Haskins acquired his nickname while a counselor at Camp Grady Spruce. His passions for photography and flying were garnered as a young man and lasted a lifetime.

In the 1930s he held auxiliary lights for the photographer making photogravure images published by the Dallas Morning News . During World War II, Haskins served as a flight instructor at an airbase in Bonham, and then went to work at the Dallas Morning News after the war.

Shortly after the war, Haskins combined his two passions, opening Squire Haskins Photography at 2014 Commerce Street, Dallas. The new studio quickly acquired a reputation for fast service and quality images. Haskins and his wife, Mildred, were partners in the enterprise – he the photographer and she the office manager. Although their work included commercial, architectural, convention, and portrait photography, the main focus of the business was aerial images. Haskins flew by himself, piloting a specially designed Luscom aircraft. Juggling the controls and radios, he would search for his subject and raise the specially designed window to take his pictures. He continued to work in this manner until the pressures of communicating with air traffic controllers while photographing his subjects became too great.

In 1968, Squire and Mildred Haskins retired, and son L. B. Ben Haskins III, and his wife, Glenda, took over the company. Unlike his father, Ben used flight instructors to pilot his aircraft while he took photographs. When Ben and Glenda Haskins retired in 2002, their archives became available to The University of Texas at Arlington Library Special Collections. Squire Haskins Photography, Inc. (www.squirehaskins.com)continues business in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and maintains its archives from 2000 forward.

Sources:

From the guide to the Squire Haskins Photography, Inc. Collection AR447, OS474., [1880s]-2002, 1947-1996, (Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library)