Resources related to Slavery and Racial Injustice at Rice University: Home

The following books are useful resources for their own narratives, as well as the footnoted pointers to original sources.

• Kean, Melissa. “Desegregating Private Higher Education in the South: Duke, Emory, Rice, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.” Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2008. Fondren Library call #  LC214.22 .S68 K43 2008 or available online via Fondren proxy at this link
• Meiners, Fredericka. "A history of Rice University : the Institute years, 1907-1963, 1st ed.." (1982) Fondren call # LD4711.R32 M43 or online at http://hdl.handle.net/1911/35955 
• Boles, John B. "A University so Conceived: A Brief History of Rice University." Fourth, revised and expanded edition. Houston, Tex.: Rice University, Office of Public Affairs, 2012. Fondren Library call # LD4711 .R32 B64 2012
• Morris, Sylvia Stallings and Muir, Andrew Forest. Edited by Randal Hall. "William Marsh Rice and his Institute: the centennial edition." (2012) Fondren call # LD6053 .M85 2012
  • See Chapter II for information about slaves in relation to William Marsh Rice.
  • 1972 edition available at Internet Archive
• Gantz, Kerri D. "On the basis of merit alone: integration, tuition, Rice University, and the charter change trial, 1963-1966." Rice University, 1991. Fondren Library call # Thesis Hist. 1991 Gantz and online at https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/13495 
• Pratt, Joseph A. "Builders : Herman and George R. Brown." Texas A&M University Press, 1999.  Fondren Library call # HD9570 .B67 P73 1999
• Kellar, William Henry, 1952-. "Make haste slowly : moderates, conservatives, and school desegregation in Houston." Texas A&M University Press, 1999. Fondren call #  LC214.23 .H68 K45 1999 (or check out eBook at Internet Archive)
• Cole, Thomas R. "No color is my kind : the life of Eldrewey Stearns and the integration of Houston." University of Texas Press, 1997. Fondren call # F394 .H89 N426 1997, located in the Woodson Research Center.

The following archival collections are open for research and are described in finding aids / guides (see links below).
Woodson Research Center archival collections can be searched generally at http://archives.library.rice.edu/.

• Early Rice Institute records, 1844-1941 (bulk 1880-1916), UA 101, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.
  • See especially Series IV: WMR business records & land titles, 1844-1936, bulk 1880-1900 (Boxes 98-113) for documentation of William Marsh Rice's business dealings.
• Rice University. Charter of the William M. Rice Institute (printed version - online) 1891.
  • The charter describes Rice Institute as providing higher education for the white population of Houston. 
• Rice Institute / Rice University Charter Trial records, 1963-1998, UA 275, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library
  • These records reflect the court proceedings of and alumni and public response to Rice Institute's Charter trial of 1964 and later appeals and judgments. The 1964 lawsuit was brought by the Rice Institute trustees seeking to alter the Institute's original charter to allow admission of students of color and to enable the school to charge tuition.
• Rice Institute President Edgar Odell Lovett papers, 1907-1954, Bulk dates 1914-1944, UA 014
• Rice University President's Office Records : William Vermillion Houston, 1946-1960, UA 085
• Rice University Archives "Information files" for:
  • Charlie Freeman, Kennard W. Reed, Jr., Linda Faye Williams, Blacks at Rice, Students-Minorities, Ku Klux Klan, [Rice/TSU] Engineering - Dual Degree Program in, Minority Faculty and Staff at Rice (early period), 
  • each of the presidents of Rice Institute / Rice University: Lovett, Houston, Hackerman, Rupp, Pitzer, Gillis, Leebron
  • These may be accessed at the Woodson Research Center by asking staff for the Information File for your given topic.
• The Ku Klux Klan in Texas papers, 1922-1925, MS 727, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University
  • The Ku Klux Klan also appeared in the 1921 Campanile yearbook, but not again after that. The KKK and other controversial organizations at Rice, such as the Idlers Club and the Tattlers Club, had been shut down by Pres. Lovett, Dean of Students, and members of the faculty.
• Chandler Davidson academic papers, 1967-2008, UA 189 (See Series IV: Minority Papers)
• Andrew Forest Muir papers, 1916-1969, MS 017 (Se especially Series V: Alphabetical subject files for Rice)
• Rice University scrapbook collection, 1907-1985, UA 230, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library
  • See the Autry srapbook
• Rice University Thresher student newspaper editor (Brady Tyson) papers, 1948-1949, UA 030, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library
  • The collection contains letters written to Brady Tyson as editor of the Rice Thresher from September 1, 1948 to February 14, 1949 and photocopies of newspaper letters and articles regarding the segregation controversy, particularly in relation to opportunity for African Americans to be admitted to the Rice Institute graduate school.
• Literary Societies at Rice were a big part of student life before the campus became co-ed, and sometimes hosted blackface parties.  See archival collection guides:
  • Elizabeth Baldwin Literary Society
  • Chaille Rice Literary Society Records
  • Pallas Athene Literary Records
  • Owen Wister Literary Society (OWLS)
  • Sarah Lane Literary Society 
• Urban League Scholarship Program (with Rice University, 1999)
  • See "Information file" on this topic
• Rice University athletic records, 1912-2010, UA 155, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library
  • These records reflect the administrative activities of the Rice Athletics Department and the activities of varsity athletics. Administrative records include materials such as historical, eligibility, scholarship, and participation reports, Southwest Conference meeting minutes, Student Athletic Committee records, media guides, and NCAA scorebooks. Records arranged by sport include rosters, injury reports, statistics, notes, scores, and Letterman Awards.
• Rice University Southwest Conference Faculty Representative records (Jim Castaneda), 1940-2007, UA 152, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library
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Source: The Weekly Telegraph (Houston, Tex.), 1861-01-29, pg. 3, col. 7. Available online at East Texas Digital Archive  https://digital.sfasu.edu/digital/collection/RSP/id/3611/rec/5.

Rice student publications online

The Campanile and The Thresher are independent, student-created publications. This online material might contain offensive language and negative stereotypes. Rice University does not endorse these views, but feels that controversial items should be made available for viewing and assessed based on the time of creation. Physical copies of the yearbook are also available for viewing at Fondren Library (call number LD4711 .R35) and at the Woodson Research Center.

• The Campanile, 1916-present (Rice University yearbooks)
  • ​through 1949 are online, with many more going online in July 2019
  • physical copies of the yearbook are also available for viewing at Fondren Library (call number LD4711 .R35, in the general stacks and in Woodson Research Center)
• Rice Thresher, 1916-2014 (student newspaper)
  • more current issues online at http://www.ricethresher.org/
  • physical copies of the newspaper are also available for viewing at Fondren Library (call number AN2 .R3 T4, in the general stacks and in the Woodson Research Center)

• William Marsh Rice Papers, MSS-0140, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
  • Digitized materials in this collection consist primarily of Rice's personal and financial correspondence as well as financial records covering his residency in Houston, with the earliest papers dating from 1841. There are some financial records dating back to 1869. The collection also contains personal and financial papers of Frederick Rice, Rice's brother, and of John H. Brown, a business associate of Rice and the first husband of Rice's second wife, Julia Elizabeth Baldwin. A grouping of unidentified records and correspondence covers the years 1837-1868.

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The following archival collections are traditionally restricted.
Board of Trustees records remain restricted over time, and President's Office records generally are restricted for 50 years.
However, access to restricted material for specific research needs can be requested in the manner noted on each finding aid / collection guide (see links below). 

• Rice University Board of Trustees records, 1891-2005, UA 062
• Rice University President's Office Records: Kenneth Pitzer, 1961-1968, UA 083
• Rice University President's Office Records, Norman Hackerman, 1969-1985, UA 067
• Rice University President's Office Records: George Rupp, 1985-1993, UA 005
• Rice University President's Office Records: Malcolm Gillis, 1993-2004, UA 100

Cummins vs. Rice court case in Texas Supreme Court (available online) gives a name to  a slave owned by a William Marsh Rice business.