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Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia

 Collection
Identifier: MS 626
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information. Boxes 40-44 stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center. Boxes 41-44 in Annex.

Scope and Contents

The Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia consist of 52 linear feet of photographs, scrapbooks, artifacts, financial, legal, correspondence, real estate, property, philanthropy, public service, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston records, as well as family records. The dates range from 1860 to 2004. Of note are three clothing ensembles as well as records of artworks purchased for her personal collection that were later donated to MFAH.

Dates

  • 1860-2004

Conditions Governing Access

Archival material related to artwork that was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston by Audrey Jones Beck is restricted to staff members or an agent with written persmission of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. With regard to archival material not related to artwork that was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston by Audrey Jones Beck, no parties other than Houston Endowment, Inc., through staff members or an agent with written permission, shall have access to the material until 2028.

Conditions Governing Access

Boxes 1-39 stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Boxes 40-44 stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center. Boxes 41-44 in Annex.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the Audrey Jones Beck Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

The Woodson Research Center use policy is that researchers assume sole responsibility for any infringement of privacy, literary rights, copyrights, or other rights arising from their use of the archival materials. In addition to any restrictions placed by donors, certain kinds of archival materials are restricted for the life of the creator plus 50 years. These materials include, but are not limited to, student grades, transcripts, and any job applications or recommendations.

Biographical / Historical

Audrey Louise Jones Beck, daughter of Tilford and Audrey Thompson Jones, was born March 27, 1922. She was very close to her grandmother, Mary Gibbs Jones and step-grandfather, Jesse H. Jones, and spent much time traveling and spending time in Washington DC with them. She attended Kinkaid School in Houston from 1927 until graduation in 1939. She attended Mount Vernon College and the University of Texas at Austin and was already engaged to Ensign John A. Beck (Boehck) at the beginning of World War II when she and John decided to marry in the first military ceremony at Christ Episcopal Church. During the war she volunteered at the Aircraft Recognition Center for the Dept. of Defense and at the Hollywood Canteen in Los Angeles. She and John lived their first married years in Long Beach, CA, and after the war returned to Houston to amass a collection of impressionist paintings, donated in 1974 to the Museum of Fine Arts Beck Building as the John A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. She served on the boards of MFAH, Houston Endowment, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet and Houston Symphony Society. She died on Aug. 22, 2003 and was buried in Houston's Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.

Extent

52 Linear Feet (44 boxes)

4.53 Gigabytes (Nearline access: MS0626aip_001 (4.53 GB))

Language of Materials

English

Overview

The Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia consist of 52 linear feet of photographs, scrapbooks, artifacts, financial, legal, correspondence, real estate, property, philanthropy, public service, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston records, as well as family records. The dates range from 1860 to 2004. Of note are three clothing ensembles as well as records of artworks purchased for her personal collection that were later donated to MFAH.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in twelve series: Series I: Early Years; Series II: Wedding to John A. Beck; Series III: Correspondence; Series IV: Legal/Financial; Series V: Real Estate; Series VI: Property; Series VII: Philanthrophy/Public Service; Series VIII: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Series IX: Family Records; Series X: Photographs; Series XI: Scrapbooks; Series XII: Artifacts/memorabilia

Other Finding Aids

See also Jesse H. Jones Family and Personal Papers MS 252, and Jesse H. Jones Corporate and Property Records MS 621, as well as John T. Jones, Jr. Business and Personal Papers MS 725. Related books include Fifty Billion Dollars: My Thirteen Years with the RFC 1932-1945; Jesse H. Jones: the Man and the Statesman; Unprecendented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism and the Common Good; Jesse Holman Jones: Distinguished American Citizen; RFC, the House of Jesse; Jesse Holman Jones; Brother, Can You Spare a Billion: the Story of Jesse H. Jones (videorecording).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was gifted by Houston Endowment, Inc. in August 2017.
Title
Guide to the Audrey Jones Beck Papers and Memorabilia MS 626
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA