A.E. (Gene) Magee photographs and papers
Aerial Photograph of Downtown Tucson, circa 1987 taken by Gene Magee; box 1, folder 1.
Collection area: Arizona and Southwest
Collection dates: 1902-1996 bulk (bulk 1930-1970)
This collection has four series and contains photographic materials consisting of black and white and color negatives of varying formats from 35mm, medium and large format film and color slides, black and white and color prints of varying sizes, contact sheets, postcards, a small number of papers created or kept by Magee and a small selection of photographs from other Western Ways photographers, Manley Commercial Photography and the Buehman Collection. Many negatives have little to no background information recorded. Materials in this collection date from 1902-1996, the majority between 1930-1970, and document both aerial and ground views of Tucson, several cities across Arizona and trips to California, Montana and Mexico.
The first series pertains to Tucson from 1902-1996 and is divided into seven sub-series organized at folder level and consists of aerials of Tucson spanning several decades, airports and air shows in and around Tucson, a variety of buildings, ranches and other locations including a large number of schools Magee completed electrical work at, views of the Tucson Gas, Electric Light and Power Company plant and miscellaneous events and sights around Tucson like the Tucson Rodeo and its annual parade. The final sub-series contains oversize reproductions of materials found in the first six sub-series.
The second series pertains to several cities across Arizona from 1930-1970 and is divided into three sub-series organized at folder level. Magee did not record specific information such as dates for a bulk of these materials. The first series is organized by city and the subjects found in each city vary greatly from aerials, businesses, dams, ghost towns, hotels, mills, mining, Native Americans, ranches, scenery and schools. The second series consists of images of national and state parks and unidentified aerials, cacti, ranches and scenery and the third series contains oversize reproductions of works from the first two sub-series.
The third series pertains to travel outside of Arizona from 1940-1960 and is divided into three sub-series organized at folder level. The first sub-series includes popular destinations in California and scenes from McLeod, Montana. The second sub-series includes photographs from a trip Gene and his wife Pauline Magee took to Mexico in 1936 or 1937 where they visited many of Father Kino's missions, multiple cities, the country side, beaches and Rancho Alamo. The third sub-series contains oversize reproductions of materials found in the first two sub-series.
The fourth series contains a small selection of printed materials including personal letters sent to Magee, a volume of "Creative Ideas in Glass" containing a feature on an addition to the El Con Shopping Mall where Magee completed work as an electrical engineer, a newsletter from the West University Neighborhood Association and a "special list stock cards."
Arthur Eugene "Gene" Magee, born in 1907, moved from Oklahoma to Tucson with his family in 1924. Magee graduated from Tucson High School in 1925 and received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1930. He began working full time at Tucson Gas, Electric Light and Power Company (now TEP) and photographing his electrical work, a practice that continued throughout his career. Magee became the manager at Tucson Rapid Transit Company (now Sun Tran) for eight years in the late 1930s and co-founded Western Ways Photographic Services with photographer and filmmaker Charles Herbert in 1946. In 1948, Magee started his own company Magee Engineering in 1948 and left Western Ways to focus on his new business. Magee spent the next 48 years operating his firm working on over 100 schools, over 30 buildings on the University of Arizona campus, Tucson International Airport, City Hall and a variety of other buildings across Tucson. In addition to his engineering career, Magee became a licensed pilot in the 1930s and began taking aerial photos of Tucson, effectively documenting the city's post-WWII population growth over several decades. Throughout his life, Magee also traveled and photographed several cities across Arizona, McLeod, Montana, some popular destinations in California and across northern Mexico, including many missions founded by Father Kino. In 1995, Magee contributed some of his aerial images to
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