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.

New online: Autry collection

Allie May Autry crowned May Fete queen, 1925
http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/68515

The first 22 selections from the James Lockhart Autry family papers are now online. Digitized items include family portraits, documents, and memorabilia. Documents include the invitation and dedication program for Autry House. Dedicated in 1921, Autry House was the first social space for Rice students before the Rice Memorial Center was built.

This digitized material forms part of a larger physical collection accessible at Fondren Library, which  includes business papers, correspondence, photographs and memorabilia related to the James Lockhart Autry family of Texas (1875-present) and of North Carolina (1832), Tennessee (1824-1840) and Mississippi (1840-1875). These materials show the life style of a family who moved into Texas and played an important role in developing both the social and economic framework of Houston. Among the business papers are correspondence and legal briefs from the terms Autry served as general counsel to the Texas Company, president of Fidelity Trust Company, and vice-president and general counsel of the American Republics Corporation. Finding aid to the collection is available at: http://library.rice.edu/collections/WRC/finding-aids/manuscripts/0003

Additional items will be digitized and available online throughout 2013.

Rice Thresher newspaper online, full text searchable 1916-2000

Rice Thresher masthead, first issue, 1916

Fondren Library is happy to announce the Rice Thresher, student newspaper since 1916, is now available online in a full-text searchable PDF format for the years 1916-2000.

The Thresher archive is available as issue-level PDF files in Rice’s institutional repository at http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/64041. In this way, the digital Thresher can be searched with many other Rice resources and will be reliably preserved. These issue-level files maintain the look and feel of the print, including the layout, the advertisements and the experience of browsing the pages.

It is also available in the Portal to Texas History, hosted by the University of North Texas, at http://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/THRSH/. Being present in the Portal to Texas History allows the Thresher to be searched in the company of a treasure trove of other Texas heritage resources.

Issues from the year 2000-current day are available directly from the Thresher online at www.ricethresher.org, presented as a Table of Contents with links to individual articles.

Fondren Library is working towards microfilming and digitizing the print issues from 2000-current day, so that they will also be available as issue-level PDF files later in 2013.

We hope you will enjoy this lens on life at Rice over the years!

Want to see more about Rice online? Visit University Archives and Rice history!

Autry collection next in line for digitization

Autry family and Winton car, ca. 1910. Front seat: chauffeur on left, James Lockhart Autry, III. on right. Back seat left to right: James Lockhart Autry, II, Allie Kinsloe Autry, and Allie May Autry.

 

The James Lockhart Autry Family Papers have a significantly updated finding aid online and are next in line for digitization. Selections will be made and materials placed online in 2013.

The collection includes business papers, correspondence, photographs and memorabilia related to the James Lockhart Autry family of Texas (1875-present) and of North Carolina (1832), Tennessee (1824-1840) and Mississippi (1840-1875) which show the life style of a family who moved into Texas and played an important role in developing both the social and economic framework of Houston. Among the business papers are correspondence and legal briefs from the terms Autry served as general counsel to the Texas Company, president of Fidelity Trust Company, and vice-president and general counsel of the American Republics Corporation.

New exhibit online: William Marsh Rice and founding of the Rice Institute

Newsclipping “Murder by Hypnotism: A startling new theory. Does it explain the Rice mystery?” New York Journal, Oct. 21, 1900, pages 1-2. Early Rice Institute records, 1844-1941 (bulk 1880-1916), UA 101, box 35, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

 

A new exhibit online highlights the life of Rice University founder, William Marsh Rice, the sensational trial of his murder, and how his generosity made the university we know today possible.

New exhibit online: “Dick Dowling and Sabine Pass in History and Memory”

 

Dick Dowling statue, Houston, Texas

Dick Dowling and Sabine Pass in History and Memory – a new online exhibit which was developed by Dr. Caleb McDaniel, Asst. Prof. of History, Rice University, and his students, in collaboration with Rice’s Fondren Library and the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

Dowling is most famous for his role in the Battle of Sabine Pass, fought
on September 8, 1863. A statue of Dick Dowling was the first public
civic art in Houston, and this exhibit looks at who Dowling was and how
his memory has been presented over time, partly through the lens of the
Dowling statue.

The exhibit consists of two major sections, the first on the public
memory of Dick Dowling in Houston since 1863 and the second on slavery
and the battle of Sabine Pass.

This exhibit and others available at exhibits.library.rice.edu are powered by the open source software, Omeka, housed in a cloud-based server which is administered by Fondren Library.

Rice architectural drawings, panoramics & maps!

"Rice Institute land survey created by first engineering class." 1917. http://hdl.handle.net/1911/63590.

Rice architectural drawings, panoramic photos and maps, as well as many oversize manuscript materials are listed individually in a new guide which is available online in three parts:

Part 1 (Drawers 1-50 of 164 drawers)

Part 2: (Drawers 51-99 of 164 drawers)

Part 3: (Drawers 100-164 of 164 drawers)

These records include architectural drawings, maps, posters, oversize manuscript materials, and photographs ranging in dates from 1840s-2010. The majority of architectural drawings relate to Rice University and include the original drawings for buildings such as Lovett Hall and Baker College – and much, much more!

The collection also contains oversize material from other manuscript collections, such as the Illuminated Sacred Music Manuscripts.

New guide online with detailed Rice University history!

 

Reimbursement check for Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett's travel to Houston, 1907

Rice University Early Land Deeds, Contracts and Related Records, 1830-1969, contains records of the early land holdings and dealings of William Marsh Rice and the Rice Institute in 45 Texas counties and 4 Louisiana parishes.It includes original land deeds, acts of sale and surveys, all arranged by county or parish.

The collection also contains material concerning early Rice Institute campus construction, legal matters (including judicial settlements and statements), institutional housekeeping (including receipts and invoices from 1891-1907), and campus area property and construction.

These records fill in pieces of Rice history which are not possible otherwise. For example, receipts from 1907 show that Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett was one of several candidates for the presidency (see Dr. Melissa Kean’s Rice History Corner post on this topic).

Until these records were carefully examined and described, no other primary source documents had been found to clarify the scope of the search for a president. See the full guide to the collection online.

Rice University Studies publication now online

Dr. Katherine Fischer Drew, editor, Rice University Studies

The Rice University Studies (1962-1980) was a quarterly scholarly journal which was successor to The Rice Institute Pamphlet (1915-1961). Both publications are now online in full-text searchable PDF format.

The 1965 statement of the purpose of the journal—“publishing scholarly and scientific writings in all fields” by “faculty members and other persons associated with Rice University”—points out that as a continuation of the Rice Institute Pamphlet, the publication was then in its fiftieth year. Numbering of issues of Rice University Studies is continuous from the Rice Institute Pamphlet numbering, the name having been changed in 1962. Rice University History professor Dr. Katherine Fischer Drew served as the editor for many years.

Issues were to consist of “single monographs or groups of shorter papers with some unity of subject matter.” For example, the four issues in 1964 were in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, English literature, and German literature.  Many of the issues feature public speeches by Rice presidents, faculty members and visiting scholars, while some issues are a publication of the Rice University General Announcements.

As noted by Rice Centennial Historian, Dr. Melissa Kean, publications such as these were “meant to be the new institution’s contribution to the world of scholarship, showcasing the work of our own faculty as well as other scholars of high reputation.”

In 1981 Rice University Studies ceased publication, and its Review Board became the Committee on the Rice University Press with Fred R. von der Mehden as Editor.

Fondren Library is pleased to provide online access to The Rice University Pamphlets and The Rice University Studies, both  fascinating resources reflecting the scholarly activities and goals of their times.

This work was made possible with funding from the Rice Historical Society and Thomas R. Williams, Ph.D., class of 2000.

New exhibit online! Rice Presidents and Provosts!

Dr. Neal Lane, Rice University Provost, 1986-1993

Rice Presidents and Provosts exhibit online!

The president of Rice University is the chief executive officer, handling the top level direction of the university in collaboration with (and reporting to) the Board of Trustees. The provost of Rice University is the chief academic officer, reporting to the president.

Over the years, Rice has always had a president (with one notably bumpy transition) and sometimes has had a president who was also the provost. In several situations, provosts served officially as vice-president or acting president.

Presidents and provosts at Rice have significantly shaped the landscape of the university with their dreams and goals – read on to learn what each has been known for at Rice!