Janice Rubin papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0751

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Forms part of the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives. Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 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

Correspondence, photographs, slides, negatives, programs, news clippings, publicity material, an oral history interview, VHS tapes, audio cassettes, compact discs, and a poster document some of Janice Rubin's activities as a teacher, musician, and photographer within the Houston Jewish community from 1941 to 2023. Of particular interest is the 2023 oral history interview with Janice Rubin and the large amount of photographic material documenting a wide variety of people and activities including, a Brith Shalom student family history project, Jewish musicians and singers, and a rally in support of Soviet Jewry in Washington D.C. Also included is a packet of materials provided to Jewish service members during World War II.

Dates

Creation: 1941 - 2023

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 material from the Janice Rubin Papers 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

Janice Rubin grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from R.L. Paschal High School. She graduated from Rice University in 1976 and has been a Houston-based photographer since that time. She specializes in corporate and editorial photography. Known for creating warm, intimate portraits with strong emotional content, and graphic, poignant editorial shots, her clients include major corporations and institutions: ExxonMobil, The Ford Foundation, Allstate, The Houston Grand Opera, The Houston Symphony, Amnesty International, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and numerous others. Her work has appeared in publications in the United States and Europe including Smithsonian, Newsweek, Town and Country, Fortune, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, American Photographer, Esquire, Forbes, Geo, Harpers, L’Express, London Times, Ms. Magazine, Texas Monthly, and the Washington Post Magazine. Janice has exhibited internationally. She was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for her participation in the travelling exhibit “The Ties that Bind: Photographers Look at The American Family.” Her most widely seen touring exhibitions are “Survival of the Spirit: Jewish Lives in the Soviet Union,” which toured 17 cities in the U.S. and Canada from 1987-1989, and “The Mikvah Project,” which toured 34 cities in the U.S. and Europe from 2001-2015. Her work is included in the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In addition to Rice, her photography archive is housed at the University of Houston Library, Special Collections.

She has been a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) since 1986, and served as a board member of the Houston Center for Photography from 1988 through 1994. She served the City of Houston as a member of the Houston Municipal Arts Commission, 1986-1994, and Arts Task Force - Cultural Arts Council of Houston, 1991-1993, both Mayoral appointments.

In addition to photography, Janice serves as a hospital and hospice chaplain. Janice is also an educator, a lifelong musician, and recording artist.

Janice Rubin married artist Charles Wiese in Houston on 26 May 1991. Their son, Jacob, was born in 1995.

Extent

3 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of five boxes of correspondence, newspaper clippings, newsletters, programs, photographic material, and media (digital oral history, VHS, audio cassettes, and CDs) that document some of Janice Rubin's activities as a teacher, musician, and photographer within the Houston Jewish community from 1941 to 2023. Also included is a packet of materials provided to Jewish service members during World War II.

Arrangement

The materials in this collection have been arranged in eight series as follows:

Series I: Correspondence; Series II: General; Series III: News Clippings; Series IV: Photographic Materials; Series V: Programs/Published Materials; Series VI: Publicity; Series VII: Media; Series VIII: Oversize Series IX: Rice University Photographic Materials Series X: Addenda