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Margarett Root Brown College Masters' Records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 345
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 Note

This collection consists of the records of former Brown College Masters, starting with Franz and Frances Brotzen.

Dates

  • 1965 - 2004

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

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

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Historical Sketch

In 1963 Jones was the only women's college at Rice, and there was such a severe housing shortage that some Rice women were being housed in another university's dorms. In October of that year, George R. Brown and his wife Alice Pratt Brown donated one million dollars through the Brown Foundation to build a new dorm for women at Rice. The new college was established in memory of their sister-in-law, Margarett Root Brown, (1896-1963) who was the wife of the also late Hermann Brown. Margarett Brown was devoted to the fine arts as an art critic and collector and served on the boards of several of organizations. As a tribute to her love of the arts, the first floor of Brown College houses a wide variety of paintings and antique furniture donated by the George R. Brown family and others.

The College was dedicated on October 3, 1965 and was filled primarily by women who had volunteered to leave Jones College to start a new college. Since then other colleges have been added to Rice, and beginning in 1971 some colleges went co-ed. Brown held out as the last all female college until 1987 when it agreed to accept male members.

The College is an eight-story masonry structure on the northeast campus. The high-rise was devised to spare trees. In 2001 new construction will change the Brown College complex. An addition will connect to Brown College on four levels and will extend west of the College in the area occupied by the current Jones Masters' House.

Extent

0.75 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of materials collected by former Masters of Brown College, Rice University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials donated by Franz Ridgway Brotzen in 2013.

Accruals Note

Additional materials are expected for this collection.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Margarett Root Brown College Masters' records, 1965-2004
Status
Completed
Author
Norie Guthrie
Date
2013
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