Weber-Staub-Briscoe Architectural Collection online!

Fondren Library is happy to announce the digitization of 940 objects from the Weber-Staub-Briscoe Architectural Collection.

Botanical and geometrical design ornament originally installed at the Clayton house in Houston, Texas, 1940

Founded in the late 1920′s by Herman Weber as Weber Iron Works, Weber Iron & Wire Company was a fabricator of high-quality custom architectural details in metal and other materials, and became instrumental in creating original designs and duplications of fine nineteenth-century ornamental ironwork and metalwork for the projects of many of Houston’s leading architects and builders, most notably John F. Staub and Birdsall P. Briscoe. In order to produce the exceptional metalwork exactly as specified by the designs of the architects, scale and full-sized drawings of the designs were created. Most pieces were created by a detailed process including the formation of a replica of the design in clay which was cast in aluminum and placed on a pattern board used to make the final castings in iron, bronze, or aluminum. The body of work produced by Weber enriched Houston’s heritage for the greater part of the 20th century, and continues to be admired in many of Houston’s architectural treasures.

The digitized portion of the collection includes pattern boards (design molds) and metal castings of architectural details such as stair rails, fencing, and other metalwork ornaments manufactured by Weber Iron & Wire Company from the 1930′s to the 1990′s. The larger collection also includes photographs, architectural drawings, reference books, and tools used in the manufacturing process, along with invoices from the company from 1933 to 1987.

Resources

• Full archive online of the Weber-Staub-Briscoe Architectural Collection, 1909-2010 is available at http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/68494
• Finding aid to the Weber-Staub-Briscoe Architectural Collection, 1909-2010, MS 586, is available at  https://library.rice.edu/collections/WRC/finding-aids/manuscripts/0586

The original materials which these digitized versions represent are held by Rice University, Fondren Library, Woodson Research Center. The materials are available for research by appointment.

Rice Thresher newspapers online: 1958-1967

Fondren Library has digitized back issues of The Rice Thresher from 1958-1967 and made them available online in Rice’s digital repository at http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/27631. Readers can access full issues or individual articles in pdf format, as well as search the full text of the collection.

The late 1950s and through the mid-1960s represent a vibrant period of time on the Rice campus. The residential college system as we know it now had just taken shape, and graduate research increased significantly. Rice Institute changed its charter to admit students without regard to race or color and to enable charging tuition for the first time, which in turn made it possible to secure research grants and other key funding. The curriculum was expanded from its science and engineering focus to include more humanities subjects. Rayzor Hall and Anderson Hall graced the academic quad. Two U.S. Presidents spoke at Rice; in 1960, Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a non-political speech and in 1962, John F. Kennedy spoke in the Rice Stadium on the space race.

Since 1916, The Rice Thresher has been the official student newspaper of Rice University. It is published every Friday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays. The Rice Thresher provides online access to current issues as well as a partial archive of issues from the 1990s and 2000s at http://www.ricethresher.org.

Other Rice publications that are available freely online include the General Announcements starting from 1912, Rice presidential inauguration speeches and general histories of the university. See them online in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive, http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=riceuniversity.

Cohen House crest

To the right is the crest of Rice University’s Cohen House as it appeared on china, the sundial on the building grounds, and other items.

From a letter to George S. Cohen from Hasbrouck and Maid, Consulting Heraldists, New York City:

Your suggestion for the incorporation of symbols denoting Rice Institute, the Faculty, the Cohen family, and the Hebrew Fifth Commandment, not only make excellent symbolism, but conform to the rules of Heraldry.

We are submitting herewith a tentative sketch after your description, with the torch for the Faculty, between two Rice Institute Owls in chief, and the hands symbol of the Cohens in base, separated by a fess bearing the first six words of the Fifth Hebrew commandment in Hebrew letters.

Woodson’s Guide to the Cohen House records can be viewed here (picture and excerpt taken from box 1, folder 5 of the following record group):
http://library.rice.edu/collections/WRC/finding-aids/university-archives/cohen-house-records-1920-1971

More information about the sundial:
http://www.geophysics.rice.edu/buildings/cohen.html

Ye Old College Inn recipe book now available

Please visit DSpace to see a PDF of Ernest Coker’s popular recipe book from the 1950s:

http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/26744

Ye Old College Inn on South Main was established in 1918 and quickly became a popular dining and hang out spot for Rice students and the local community.  Ernest Coker took over operations of the restaurant in 1946 from George Martin, the original proprietor, and soon after published a book of his recipes.  The restaurant was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the St. Lukes medical tower.

Arthur E. Jones Architectural Records

The Arthur E. Jones Architectural Records contain information, news clippings, photographs, awards, and plans of over 100 projects he was a part of during his career.  Jones is a 1947 Rice University graduate and worked with Hermon F. Lloyd, William B. Morgan, Benjamin E. Brewer, and Bob G. Fillpot.  Jones’ projects with the firms, which were primarily but not only in Houston, include the Astrodome, the Allen Centers, the Melrose building, and various buildings in Greenway Plaza, the University of Houston, and Rice University. Photographers in the collection include Richard Payne, Rick Gardner, Bob Bailey, Balthazar Korab, and André Kertész.

See the guide to the collection here:

http://library.rice.edu/collections/WRC/finding-aids/manuscripts/0535

Houston photos by Wm. Lukes, 1969-1974

Anti Vietnam War Convocation at Rice University. Photo by William Lukes.

These Houston neighborhood views by Rice architecture student William Lukes in collaboration with Paul Hester, were used in a number of architectural publications and papers concerning the development of Houston, inventorying and cataloguing the growth of Houston neighborhoods, and recording various architectural landmarks in the Houston area during the period. Also included are student work from the Rice Media Center, and a photographic essay of anti-war protests (Viet Nam war) in Houston and at Rice.

View selected photos on-line.

See the guide to the entire collection.