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Rice University Faculty Women's Club records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0127
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

Minutes, records, correspondence, invitations, photographs, oral histories and other materials documenting the social and charitable activities of the Rice University Faculty Women’s Club. The speakers and menus for the various programs and activities are noted, as well as names of persons memorialized. Directories and other lists often offer the members’ married names as well as their given first names.

Dates

  • Creation: 1920-2016

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research, with the execption of boxes 6, 9, and 10 (2012-2013 minutes and correspondence, 2010-2016) which is restricted from any access until 2024.

Conditions Governing Access

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

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Rice University Faculty Women's Club records must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical / Historical

Begun in the academic year 1920/21, the club served to introduce new faculty wives to the Rice Institute (there were no female faculty members at that time). Later the club also included women faculty members. The Club has served to welcome new women and families to Rice by providing a social venue in an academic setting. Club members were also involved in charitable activities, such as sewing for the Red Cross, knitting blankets for Ben Taub Hospital, as well as having activities for Rice students and parties for faculty children and for club members. At various times in the club’s history, interest groups included Arts and Crafts, Bridge, Conversational English for International Students, Play Reading, Psychology, Spanish, French, German, Community Service Handicrafts, Gourmet, Museum Study, Ice Skating, Swimming, Tennis, Rice Tutoring Project Supervisors (of Rice students tutoring elementary school children) each of which planned various programs relevant to their interests. They met for coffees, barbecues, Easter Egg hunts, Christmas dances, and various programs related to their interests groups, often at Cohen House or at the homes of the various members.

The club made donations to the Fondren Library in memory of club members and faculty members who passed away. A Loan Closet was also maintained by the members for the benefit of the International graduate students, who were invited to borrow household items from the closet for the duration of their studies at Rice. Occasionally, the club was a recipient of gifts such as silver, china, trays, bowls, china, and a samovar.

Extent

5.5 Linear Feet (11 boxes)

0.416015625 Gigabytes (Nearline access: UA0127aip_001 (0.416015625 GB))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Minutes, records, correspondence, photographs and other materials documenting the social and charitable activities of the Rice University Faculty Women’s Club.

Acquisition Information

Donated by members Elva Gordon, Nancy Boothe, Lorraine Dessler, Ruth Pfeiffer, Frances Brotzen, Kathy Austin, and Mary Dix, over the years 1972, 1983, 1991, 1997, and 2006.

Title
Guide to the Rice University Faculty Women's Club records, 1920-2016
Status
Completed
Author
Amanda Focke and Alan Bath
Date
2018
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
713-348-2586