Kenneth L. Anthony Historic Photographic Collection

Collection

Identifier: Coll.-212

Staff Only

The Kenneth L. Anthony historic photographic collection contains 1250 photographic prints, color slides, negatives, motion pictures, digital video, and digital photographs of Corpus Christi and its surrounding region taken or collected by longtime resident Kenneth L. Anthony.

The images document such subjects as South Texas news and events, behind-the-scenes of a local television station, common and less-common views of Corpus Christi architecture, cityscape and industry and 28 surrounding towns and communities, railroads, movie theaters and location production of motion pictures in South Texas. They also stand as examples of a wide range of photographic methods:

Black-and-white prints from 35mm negatives
Color prints from 35mm transparencies (color sitemdes)
Color prints from 35mm negatives
Black-and-white and color Polaroid images
Frame grabs from 16mm color motion pictures
Frame grabs from 16mm black-and-white negative motion pictures
Frame grabs from digital video
Digital still photography
Digital renderings from computer generated 3-D mathematical models

Dates

1969 - 2010

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to taking precautions against infringement of copyright and respecting the publication rights of reproduced materials. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Any materials used should be fully credited with their source according to the example given in the Preferred Citation note. Requests for assistance with citations and images of publication quality should be directed to specialcollections@tamucc.edu

Extent

10 Linear Feet

Biographical / Historical

Originally from Houston, Kenneth Anthony made short experimental movies as a teenager at his Bayou City residence and while attending Rice University. After graduating from Rice, he came to Corpus Christi in 1966 to operate a newsreel camera and write news copy for KZTV Channel 10 television. He covered on-the-scene news using the on-air name "Leigh Anthony" to avoid confusion with Ken Cessna, another Channel 10 personality. On his own time, Anthony worked with students at University of Corpus Christi, high schools and church groups producing amateur motion picture projects, and he documented the visits of Hollywood film crews to the area. After 16 years in TV news, he transferred within the Channel 10 organization to become the producer of local commercials 20 more years. In 2002, he left KZTV after 36 years to pursue studies in history and education. Receiving his Education MS from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2006, he taught history at Mathis High School and Mathis International High School as an Adjunct of University of Texas Brownsville, 2007-2009.

Anthony's other photographic and research interests grew from his model railroad hobby, studying how the workings of a railroad could visually reflect the development of a city, a region, and an economy, and how that history affected the appearance of the nearby landscape and buildings, elements that might be modeled. Beginning in 1969, Anthony took thousands of railroad-related photographs, concentrating on day-to-day operations rather than tourist runs and museum displays. He took thousands more of architectural and industrial scenes, noting especially when a building showed subtle evidence of its past. The research brought Anthony into a number of university, museum and government archives, and generated an appreciation for their work in preserving primary materials and making them available to researchers.