Monthly Archives: October 2011

Usually when people ask me what my job is like I tell them that its always interesting because there’s no such thing as a typical day for me. That’s true as far as it goes, but it occurred to me … Continue reading →

I have no idea who he is, but I’m pretty sure I’m in love.

Yesterday saw quite a bit of activity on campus as Rice kicked off the countdown to next year’s 100th anniversary celebration. There was a town hall meeting and lots of activity out in Founders Court in the afternoon–tents, food, banners, … Continue reading →

I made a completely unexpected discovery a few days ago. Looking for a photograph, I instead came upon an envelope full of examples of a wide variety of bookplates used in the Fondren Library. I couldn’t have been more surprised–I’d … Continue reading →

I had lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago and he was reminiscing (fondly, I think) about the days before Jones College when many Rice girls from outside Houston lived at the Institute-owned Banks Street Apartments. They are, … Continue reading →

I found another misfiled contact sheet the other day–they’re easy to get wrong because the images are so tiny. We see on this sheet several chemists, two that I recognize and two that I don’t. Since I had so much … Continue reading →

It was the spring of 1995 and these young women were receiving instruction on the proper use of some new weight training equipment. Could they possibly be any less enthusiastic? I can’t say I blame them, though.

Amid the general turmoil of the day, I spent a few enjoyable moments talking with a friend who had some business in the Woodson and I tossed off almost thoughtlessly the notion that archiving is more an art than a … Continue reading →

Now that I’ve finally noticed that many contact sheets have what are essentially “end of the roll of film” bonuses, I’ve officially gone on a contact sheet jag. There are hundreds of these in the Woodson and I’ve never looked … Continue reading →

Herman Brown Hall for Mathematical Sciences was built in 1968 with funding from the Brown foundation and the NSF as part of what was called the “Systems Grant.” (This grant–and its failure to be renewed–was hugely important in the history … Continue reading →