Blanche Harding Sewall Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0431

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, college materials, pamphlets and programs, materials related to the construction of the Sewall residence, and the Sewall's trip to Japan. The dates for this collection range from 1847 to 1959 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1935 to 1948.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1847-1959

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Blanche Harding Sewall Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical / Historical

Blanche Harding Sewall (Mrs. Cleveland Sewall) was a native of Fort Worth, Texas and attended Rice Institute with the class of 1917. She was an artist, philanthropist and, as a patron of the arts, a founding member of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She organized a private foundation, the Library of Arts. At her husband's death in 1942, she assumed operations of his wholesale grocery company, Carson Sewall & Co. Marine Division. As a memorial to her husband, she donated funds for the construction of a building for the Rice campus, Sewall Hall. Mrs. Sewall died on May 28, 1973, in Houston. Funds from her estate provided for the Andrew Hays Buchanan Professorship and the Noah Harding Professorship at Rice. Andrew Hays Buchanan was her maternal grandfather, and Noah Harding was her paternal grandfather. The Sewall residence, designed by Ralph Adams Cram in the Mediterranean Renaissance style in 1925, was left to Rice University. Blanche Harding Sewall was awarded Rice's Gold Medal posthumously in 1973.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of correspondence, college materials, pamphlets and programs, materials related to the construction of Sewall residence and the Sewall's Japan trip. The dates for this collection range from 1847 to 1959 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1935 to 1948.

Acquisitions Information

The bulk of the materials were received in 1974 from Texas Commerce Bank, executor of Mrs. Sewall's estate. Additional materials were received in 1988. Correspondence between Blanche Harding Sewall and Cleveland Sewall was added in 2020.

Accruals

No future additions are expected for this material.

Related Materials

Additional information about Blanche Harding Sewall may be found in the following information files located in the Woodson Research Center: Blanche Harding Sewall; Sewall Hall; Sewall House; and Cleveland Sewall Hall dedication, 1971, photo album.