COLLEGE STATION, TX – Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) officials will celebrate the unveiling of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Carl Rakeman transportation paintings at the Gibb Gilchrist Building on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m. Dr. Herbert Richardson, director of the Texas Transportation Institute, along with FHWA special guests Dennis Judycki, deputy executive director, and Paula Ewen, director of the office of information and management services and Dan Reagan, division administrator will join in the ribbon-cutting event.
“We are pleased to feature the Rakeman collection in our Gilchrist Building,” Dr. Richardson said. “This collection of American transportation art illustrates the history of how our transportation systems have improved over time, through research. As a research institute, TTI is proud to be a part of the past, present and future of transportation.”
Rakeman was employed with the Bureau of Public Roads, the predecessor of the present FHWA, from 1921-1952. His collection celebrates American transportation beginning with travel by horse and culminating in the modern interstate highway system. More than 80 of his works featuring transportation images from the 1500s to the 1940s will be displayed on walls in the Gilchrist Building.
Prior to being featured in the Gibb Gilchrist Building, Rakeman’s collection was at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Museum in Fremont, Ohio.
The Gibb Gilchrist lobby will also be featuring a collection of “Historical Transportation Devices” from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The collection is on loan to TTI for five years. Steve Gayle, international president of ITE, will also provide remarks during the Rakeman ribbon cutting ceremony.