Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Blair, Don

title	Bettina Steinke and Don Blair Papers, 1889-2000
repository	National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
description	Papers and photographs of artist Bettina Steinke and her husband, commercial photographer and gallery owner, Don Blair, which features nearly 38,000 prints, negatives, transparencies, and slides documenting their lives and careers. Steinke’s artwork and Blair’s photography are well documented, both through photographs and manuscript materials. Photographic images include both reference materials and completed artwork. Extensive business and personal correspondence spanning nearly 70 years document their relationships with artists, clients, family, and friends. Steinke’s 35-year relationship with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame is particularly well covered. Their wide-ranging travels are also well documented, primarily through photographs and correspondence. The coverage of early commercial trips to the Caribbean, Central America, and the Canadian Arctic is particularly strong. Business and personal financial records, chiefly covering the last 15 years of their lives, are also included. Biographical Note: Donald Allam Blair was born on October 4, 1905 in Lamar, Arkansas to Frank Preston Blair and the former Evelena Allam. He grew up in Oklahoma and New Mexico. During his younger years he worked on a farm and with cattle. Blair attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating with an engineering degree. He enjoyed commercial art, photography, polo, private aviation, and sailing as avocations. He got his start in the oil business as a ditch digger with Marland Oil Co. of Ponca City, Oklahoma, which later became Conoco. Later, he worked as the chief draftsman for the production department of Barnsdall Oil Co. He also did commercial artwork and edited an in-house publication for the company. While still with Barnsdall, he wrote, produced, and was the master of ceremonies for his own radio program over the Tulsa, Oklahoma NBC Radio affiliate, KVOO. Blair resigned from Barnsdall in 1937. In 1937, Blair was employed by the Lago Oil & Transport Co., Ltd. in Aruba, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Blair worked as a piping draftsman and company photographer. He transferred to the Industrial Relations Department in 1943 as a special assignments supervisor. Also in 1943, he met Bettina Steinke who he corresponded with until in 1946 he asked her to visit him on Aruba. This visit resulted in their marriage on March 21, 1946, officiated by the governor of Aruba. Blair left Lago Oil and Aruba shortly thereafter and began nearly a decade of joint assignments with his wife. With him as photographer and her as artist, they traveled to Central America, Colombia, the Canadian Arctic, and elsewhere. He also worked as a photojournalist on smaller assignments for magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Business Week, True, and Sports Illustrated. In 1949, Blair opened an art gallery in Claremore, Oklahoma that sold the work of his wife and other artists. Later, he operated, at various times, a photography shop, framing store, and art galleries in Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He also dabbled in real estate property development in Santa Fe. All through their marriage Blair was an integral part of Steinke’s artistic career. He was the person who shot virtually all the reference photographs Steinke used to create her paintings and drawings. He was also an important part of the documentation process Steinke used when working on a portrait project. Blair’s interest in private aviation continued during most of his life. He flew private airplanes into his 90s. This interest is reflected in the collection by such materials as aerial photographs, aviation fuel and plane rental receipts, newsletters from the United Flying Octogenarians, and the contents of his flight attaché. Don Blair died on September 18, 2000, only a little more than a year after his wife’s death. His final wishes also specified that his cremated remains be scattered on the New Mexico landscape.
extent	61.2 cubic feet (109 document boxes, 7 flat boxes, 2 oversized folders).
formats	Business Papers Correspondence Financial Records Personal Papers Photographs
access	The collection is open for research. It is advisable for researchers to discuss their proposed research with staff prior to visiting the Center.
record source	http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/r_a_stei.html
finding aid	Online and in repository
acquisition information	Dickinson Research Center director Charles Rand and National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Curator of Art Ed Muno, working with Steinke and Blair estate executor Ned Jacob, negotiated the transfer of the Steinke and Blair papers to the Dickinson Research Center from the estate’s primary beneficiary, the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. Legal and physical transfer of the papers occurred in March 2001. Charles Rand worked on the papers on-and-off between 2001 and 2004. Rand created a detailed inventory of the papers, compiled biographical notes, and re-housed and re-boxed much of the collection. Between November 2004 and May 2005 Jonathan Nelson completed the processing of the collection, which included re-boxing and re-housing the remainder of the collection, final arrangement, and creation of the finding aid.
updated	02/14/2025 10:07:33
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