Guide to MS001 The University of Texas at El Paso Bhutanese Style Architecture Collection
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Abstract
Created by Senate Bill 183, the State School of Mines and Metallurgy was founded in 1913 due to El Pasoans’ requests for a school to train mining engineers and metallurgists to help support the local mining and smelting industries. In 1914 the State School of Mines opened on land and buildings east of Ft. Bliss that were formerly occupied by the El Paso Military Institute. University of Texas Regents named Stephen Worrell as the first dean. Later that year a fire destroyed the School’s main building and the campus relocated to land donated by El Pasoans in the Sunset Heights area. After viewing British explorer’s Jean Claude White’s photographs of the Kingdom of Bhutan in the April 1914 issue of National Geographic, Kathleen Worrell, wife of the dean, recommended that the new campus adopt Bhutanese-style architecture because of the similarities between Bhutan’s and El Paso’s landscapes. The UTEP Bhutanese Style Architecture Collection dates 1910s – 2008, bulk 1967 – 2000s. Types of records include photographs, publications, correspondence, drawings of UTEP buildings, and other printed material.