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Wees, a German-born architect, practiced in St. Louis before his arrival in Paris, Texas,
in 1916 to help rebuild the city after a devastating fire. Among his commissions in Paris
are the Paris Library, the Scott residence, the cenotaph, clock and the plaza fountain. In
1936 Wees enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps camp near Tyler where he served as a
foreman and taught art for twenty months. The Wees collection consists of reports, an interview,
abstracts, specifications, newspaper clippings, and 118 drawings for buildings designed for
Rufus F. Scott in Paris. This material is possibly the only original work left from J. L.
Wees’ practice. His grandson recalled that, after Wees’ death, his original linen drawings
“were washed until white and suitable for making pillowcases.”
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