Rice University Presidents' Christmas and holiday cards collection

The custom of sending greeting cards at Christmas and/or New Year’s has been observed continuously by the six presidents of Rice Institute and University. President and Mrs. Lovett are represented by engraved formal cards (with script only). The card from President Houston’s years is a reproduced etching of campus buildings. The cards sent by President and Mrs. Hackerman are large color photographs of campus buildings, architectural features, or grounds scenes. Both color and black and white photography were used on cards sent by President and Mrs. Rupp. They feature distinctive photographs of familiar campus scenes or images of recently completed campus buildings. Color photography of campus places, some of them new, were the choices of President and Mrs. Gillis, whose own photograph is on one of the cards. Their cards are of varying sizes, as are the cards sent by President and Mrs. Leebron, one of whose is a photograph of their four-member family. The others are color photographs of either familiar campus scenes or new features. During President Leebron’s administration the custom of mailing hardcopy cards was replaced by using email to send online greetings, taking full advantage of features like animation.