I recently came upon this old issue of Town and Country in a non-Rice related manuscript collection that one of us had out for some reason. It’s got a pretty arresting cover:
I really didn’t expect to find any Rice angle in it but I did, in a fashion spread about the glamorous women of Houston:
Here’s the caption: 
And here’s one more, not taken on campus, but it shows future Rice trustee, boxing promoter and horsewoman, Josephine Abercrombie:
Who knows where she is?
Bonus: Speaking of future Rice trustees, I think Raymond Brochstein must have still been working on his architecture degree at Rice in 1954. 
Well, I think she’s on top of the Shamrock. That’s the intersection of Main & Holcombe in the background, I think.
She was indeed on top of the Shamrock. She looks like a million bucks up there.
While Raymond Brochstein was still working on his Rice degree in 1954, he’d also already had significant experience with his father’s company:
“When (Raymond) Brochstein was 15, (his father) Isaac summoned him to work in the family business over the summer. The long, hot days began at 7 a.m., and the tasks were challenging for the Lamar High School student. “A simple mortise lock set would take four hours,” commented Brochstein. “It had to be done right.” Under the direction of master woodworkers in the shop, Brochstein hand-sanded miles of mahogany crown molding for the Shamrock Hotel — learning to meticulously sponge down the wood to raise the grain, making it easier to catch all the imperfections. His father insisted that he learn all the facets of the business.
“Brochstein enrolled at Rice University (then Rice Institute) in 1951 …”
(Source: https://texasarchitects.org/v/article-detail/The-Life-of-a-Craftsman-Raymond-Brochstein-FAIA/j8/ )
Raymond was still a student then. He graduated in 1955. Josephine lives in Kentucky and is interested in horses. She was on the Presidential Search committee that selected Rupp. Josephine is very much a lady and played a very positive role in the selection of Rupp. Karen George acted as our secretary and she can supply you with the entire story. I enjoyed the work and the members, but I will never be on such a committee again. The work is mine boggling as well as being pressure filled. gus
Professor of Architecture Anderson “Andy” Todd, whose wife is featured above, is still hanging out at the Rice School of Architecture!
“To say Josephine Abercrombie has led an interesting life would be a great understatement.” So begins the lead-in to an oral history interview she gave for the “Horse Industry in Kentucky” Oral History Project maintained by University of Kentucky’s Kentuckiana Digital Library.
Here’s a link to the lead-in: http://www.kyforward.com/track-kitchen/2011/09/22/josephine-abercrombie-grew-up-on-horse-lived-life-full-of-interests-experiences-giving/
And here’s a link to the audio interview, which is not fully transcribed: http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7ftt4fnp3q .
And here’s another link which has a full transcript of what may be the same interview. (This interview was done in 2007): http://nyx.uky.edu/oh/render.php?cachefile=2007OH082_HIK020_Abercrombie.xml
The map caught my attention. My grandmother lived in Ft. Worth, so naturally we drove from Houston to Ft. Worth fairly often; First we drove through rice fields (elevators are still there near I10, then some piney woods, then mostly cotton all the way to Ft. Worth. Well rice near Houston is gone, mostly covered with subdivisions, although most of the Rice Belt is intact, although more cotton now than then. Pine woods have expanded some, but where the cotton was, is now mostly sorghum and corn. (I guess the geography teacher is still there)
Do I remember Josephine Abercrombie being involved in the annual horse show at Pin Oak, r am I confused?
You’re not confused, MJ. Josephine’s & her father (J.S., aka “Mr. Jim”) started the show at the Pin Oak Stables in Houston in 1945 (http://pinoak.org/about-pin-oak/our-history/). In 1952, they acquired 1,348 acres near Versailles in Woodford County, Kentucky, and named it Pin Oak, which is where she now lives. (http://www.pinoakstud.com/history/)