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Ann Holmes personal papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0173
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and contents

This collection contains materials that Ann Holmes considered her personal papers. She differentiated this collection from her research materials for her definitive book on the cultural arts in Houston by categorizing the following groups:

Series I: Articles/columns/reviews. Copies of her writing for various publications, mainly The Houston Post, are included. Series II: Correspondence. Included are letters from various aspects of her life, with colleagues in the arts field, family, friends. Series III: Life. This series follows her life through her career and includes materials on her early career to her 50th anniversary as an arts critic, awards and interviews.

Dates

  • 1944 - 2008

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Access restrictions

This material is open for research.

Restrictions on use

Permission to publish from the Ann Holmes Personal Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biography

Ann Hitchcock Holmes was born on April 25, 1922 in El Paso, Texas. She later moved with her parents and younger brother to Birmingham, Alabama, where she attended high school and was inspired by the theater scene. She attended Whitworth College in Brookhaven, Mississippi, on a drama scholarship and after graduation returned to Birmingham to write plays and studied sculpture and painting. In 1942 she came to Houston to work for a newspaper and volunteer for theater and arts groups. She was hired by the Houston Chronicle and was named military editor during the war. In 1947 she became fine arts editor and held that position for four decades. In 1953 she received a fellowship from the New York Herald Tribune to cover the arts scene in Europe and then received a Guggenheim Fellowship for arts visitations in America in 1960. Holmes retired in 1988 to write a book on the Houston arts, but also became Critic-at-Large for the Houston Post until 1999. Her book remained unfinished at the time of her death in March 2009. She is also the author of Joy Unconfined: Robert Joy in Houston, a portrait of fifty years and The Alley Theater: four decades in three acts: a history of one of the nation's oldest resident theaters.

Extent

3 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Ann Holmes personal papers encompass materials outside the scope of her research on her book for Houston's cultural arts. Included are materials from her everyday life--correspondence, awards and honors, social activities, and copies of her articles, columns and reviews.

Acquisitons information

The collection was acquired from the estate of Ann Hitchcock Holmes through the executor on Feb. 12, 2010, March 6, 2013, and April 30, 2013.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to Ann Holmes personal papers, 1944-2008
Status
Completed
Author
Lee Pecht
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

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