John Steven Kellett papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 975

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored offsite at the Library Service Center.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of materials on John Steven Kellett's foundation and on his personal life. The series on the John Steven Kellett Foundation includes records of the foundation, including correspondence and financial support for multiple organizations supporting the LGBTQIA community and arts organizations in Houston. Kellett's personal records include correspondence, genealogy, and hundreds of photographs and slides of his professional activities in the oil and gas industry and with his friends and family.

Dates

1927 - 2018

Creator

Kellett, John Steven (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center.

Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from the John Steven Kellett papers (MS 975) 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

John Steven Wilson Kellett (1927-2018) was born the only son of Harold Irving Kellett and Alice Anne Briggs Kellett, and grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He attended Phillips Andover Academy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemical engineering. He was hired by Exxon, working around the globe in refinery planning and project management, and eventually was transferred to Houston, where he remained for the rest of his life.

An avid lover of opera, chamber music, dance, and musical theater, Kellett was a patron of many arts organizations in Houston, including the Houston Grand Opera, Opera in the Heights, and Chamber Music Houston. He served for many years on the board of Bayou City Concert Musicals. He was also a longtime active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church.

A passionate activist for the LGBTQIA community, Kellett served for 10 years on the board of the Texas Human Rights Foundation. After his retirement from Exxon, he established the John Steven Kellett Foundation, a 501(c)3 that fosters the LGBTQ communities of Houston by funding educational, cultural, and charitable organizations. He also provided significant support for the LGBT Student Center at MIT, which in 2001 inaugurated an annual award in his name to recognize an individual or group at MIT for exceptional, sustained commitment to creating a more welcoming environment.

Excerpted from Outsmart Magazine, February 2018.