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Rice University Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0421
Finding aid note: Stored onsite in the Woodson Research Center.

Content Description

These records contain materials generated by the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice.

Dates

  • 2019 - 2022

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research.

Stored onsite at the Woodson Reserach Center.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center.

Biographical / Historical

In June 2019, David Leebron, President of Rice University, announceed the formation of a Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice. In his message to the Rice University community, Leebron stated: "We write to let you know about an important new effort by the university to learn about our own history and to contribute to shaping Rice’s future. We hope many of you will choose to engage with this effort.

Rice has acknowledged its history of initially prohibiting black students from enrolling. While the university reversed that policy through court action it pursued in the 1960s, it is clear that Rice has a more complicated history with issues of racial injustice that extends beyond the decision on whether to admit black students to the university. Although Rice University was founded nearly fifty years after the abolition of slavery, Rice has some historical connections to that terrible part of American history and the segregation and racial disparities that resulted directly from it. As a university, it is part of our obligation to understand our history, and its connection to our present, as best we can. In recognition of the importance of this history, and after initial discussions with concerned faculty, we write to inform you about our decision to establish a Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice.

The charge for the Task Force is as follows: 1. Develop and participate in the implementation of a plan for discovering, documenting, acknowledging, and disseminating Rice’s past with respect to slavery, segregation, and racial injustice, as well as an understanding of how that history may continue to inform and shape the present state of the university. 2. Develop campus wide programming to support frank and honest discussion of Rice’s entanglement with slavery, segregation, and racial injustice, as well as opportunities for community members to envision paths for Rice moving forward. This will include the invitation of speakers to bring to campus to foster dialogue around these issues. 3. Identify suggestions for Rice’s future for our students, our faculty and staff, and our relationship with our home community of Houston that will more fully realize our aspirations for a diverse and inclusive university.

See https://president.rice.edu/messages/message-rice-community-june-4-2019

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

These records contain materials generated by the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials donated by co-chairs Alexander X. Byrd and W. Caleb McDaniel in 2019-2022.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Digital Material

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Rice University Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice records
Status
In Progress
Author
Norie Guthrie
Date
2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

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

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

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Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892