06.21.2023

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Today’s Forecast

55º | Mostly cloudy | 10% chance of rain
Sunrise 7:32 a.m. | Sunset 5:36 p.m.

Barbara Friedman: An architect’s origin story

Who was Barbara Friedman?

Barbara Friedman (left) with her stepmother Mayme Friedman in 1936. | Photo courtesy of TSHA

Cowtown has had some pretty big architectural giants — Sanguinet and Staats and Wyatt Hedrick to name a few — but have you heard of Barbara Friedman? Even without fame, this dame of design had a bigger impact on Fort Worth than you might realize.

Early life

Barbara Friedman was born in 1914 in Detroit and moved to Fort Worth with her father a few years later. If the name Friedman rings a bell, that’s because her younger half-brother, Bayard Harry Friedman, was a prominent member of the community, serving as Fort Worth’s youngest mayor in 1963 at just 36 years old.

Barbara graduated from W.C. Stripling High School in 1931 and studied architecture at the University of Texas at Austin from 1932 to 1934, during which one of her designs was exhibited by the Texas Fine Arts Association. She returned to Fort Worth in 1936 with her husband Phillip Tocker and ran her own architectural practice as Barbara Tocker for six years.

Career highlights

In 1937, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners to regulate the practice. Barbara was the second licensed female architect in the state (No. 394 overall), following Louise E. Gottschalk from San Antonio.

Barbara helped charter the Texas Society of Architects in 1939 and joined the American Institute of Architects in 1946.

FTW-broomberg-patterson-house — Barbara’s Texas Modern designs were similar to O’Neil Ford’s 1939 Bromberg Patterson house.
|
Photo courtesy of the City of Dallas

Designs

While most of Barbara’s projects are no longer standing, her residential work comprised of early Texas Modern Regional architecture, a forerunner of ranch-style homes.

The style, usually attributed to Dallas’ David Williams and San Antonio’s O’Neil Ford, combined elements of Texas folk architecture and local materials with layouts that maximized cross ventilation in a time before air conditioning was readily available.

Some of her notable works include

A 1938 house on Jacksboro Highway for William Lourcey
A 1938 house on Halloran Street for herself
A 1939 house on Glenco Terrace for Agnes and William Stevens

Barbara worked primarily as an artist and art coordinator after the 1950s and died in 2014 at 100 years old.

Asked

Which historically significant Cowtown woman should we highlight next?

It doesn’t have to be Women’s History Month to celebrate the achievements of Fort Worth gals. Tell us who you’d like to learn more about.

Who runs the world?

Events

Wednesday, June 21

Doc Wesson | Wednesday, June 21 | 6-9 p.m. | Fort Brewery and Pizza, 2737 Tillar St., Fort Worth | Free | Settle in with your pals and pups for a pizza and pint on the patio while you listen to live music.

Thursday, June 22

“The Office” Trivia | Thursday, June 22 | 7 p.m. | Black Dog Retro Arcade, 309 Curtis Mathes Way, Arlington | Free | Register in advance and wow your friends with all your Dunder Mifflin fun facts.

Friday, June 23

An Evening with John Cusack | Friday, June 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth | $16-$96 | Catch a screening of “Sixteen Candles” with the 80s heartthrob + hear a live Q+A with the actor.

Saturday, June 24

Water Lantern Festival | Saturday, June 24 | 6-10 p.m. | Panther Island Pavilion, 395 Purcey St., Fort Worth | $27-$56 | Write your message of love, hope, or happiness on a lantern and float it down the Trinity River.

Sunday, June 25

Summer Market | Sunday, June 25 | 12-5 p.m. | Magnolia Green Park, 1201 Lipscomb St., Fort Worth | Free | Bring your family and your fur babies to shop local vendors and enjoy eats from local food trucks.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

Drink

🍻 Destination: Fat Daddy’s

Fat Daddy’s has a jam-packed events schedule with tons of fun stuff going on. | Photo by Fat Daddy’s

We made it, Fort Worth: It’s officially the first day of summer. If you’re looking to celebrate, then hop in the car with us for a trip to Fat Daddy’s (781 W. Debbie Ln., Mansfield) to quench your thirst with:

Killer happy hour specials (think: $2.50 well + domestic drafts, $3 margaritas) every weekday from 2-7 p.m.
A stacked live event schedule
Tons of activities, including weekly trivia + poker nights

Music, drinks, and fun this way

News Notes

Weather

The National Weather Service extended the excessive heat warning through 8 p.m. today as heat index values could reach 110°-120°. The Salvation Army opened its cooling station at the Arlington Corps Community Center.

Closed

Fanboys Grill, a comic-book-themed restaurant spin-off of Fanboys Marketplace, has printed its final edition. The eatery opened in November as the latest restaurant venture at 2708 W. 7th St., but closed permanently on Sunday.

Transit

Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens was elected the chair of the Regional Transportation Council earlier this month. Bivens served as the vice chair for the 2022-2023 term and she will now lead the 45-member transportation group through June 2024.

Civic

The city is reminding residents that the sale, possession, and discharge of fireworks within city limits is illegal. Trade your home pyrotechnics for a free show during Fort Worth’s Fourth on the banks of the Trinity River.

Announced

Fifteen-year-old pianist Seokyoung Hong from South Korea won the 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition over the weekend in Dallas. Hong received the $15,000 grand prize. Shanghai’s Yifan Wu won $10,000 for second place and Czechia’s Jan Schoolmaster won $5,000 for third.

Real Estate

If you’re in need of 25.3 acres, a 9,600-sqft home, and a helipad + hanger, you’re in luck. This property in Decatur (~45 minutes northwest) is listed for $14.25 million and features a Spanish-style mansion with five bedrooms and a Parisian guest house villa.

Sports

The Texas Super Kings — North Texas’ new major league cricket team — announced the players for the inaugural season, led by captain Faf de Plessis. Get tickets to the Thursday, July 13 season opener in Grand Prairie.

Finance

Work smarter, not harder, by hiring an investment advisor. These are the top five firms in the US.*

Shop

It’s officially summer. To celebrate, shop our online store (Six & Main), where you’ll find many summer essentials such as new patio furniture by Palmetto Craft and delicious cocktail mixers by Simple Time Mixers. Now, that’s how you start the summer.

Outdoors

The perfect outdoor string lights do exist, and they’ve got a secret weapon: solar power. Light up your yard with a 50-ft strand.*

Correction

Y’all, we messed up. We said the TCU College World Series game against Oral Roberts was going to be today. It was actually yesterday. The Horned Frogs won (6-1) and will play Florida today at 1 p.m. Watch on ESPN.

Seasonal

Wait, it isn’t summer already?

How to stay cool on the summer solstice

Find us by the freezer. | Video by Giphy

Today is the summer solstice, which means summer officially starts at 9:57 a.m.

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere with 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 37 seconds of sunlight, compared to just nine hours, 59 minutes, and 38 seconds on the winter solstice.

The average temperature on June 21 in Fort Worth is 92º, and while that isn’t as hot as it gets, that’s still pretty steamy — especially with today’s excessive heat warning.

It has felt like summer in Panther City for a few weeks already, but we thought you should celebrate — and stay cool — with a frozen treat.

We’d suggest doing a taste test at one of these:

"¿Porque no los dos?” you ask. You’re right, might as well sample them all.

The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Kate

From the editor

We don’t care if it’s cliche, we’re on a Colleen Hoover book kick this summer.

I stayed up very late finishing “Verity” last night because I couldn’t sleep without reading the ending — and dang, girl.

Rebecca just wrapped up “Reminders of Him” and ugly cried through most of the story.

What are you reading this summer? Drop your book recs and we’ll check them out.

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