There’s really no such thing for me as a typical day but even by my standards this one was lunatic. I’m worn pretty slick but I do have a couple of wonderful images I hadn’t seen until a few days ago. They capture what was truly a momentous transition in the history of the institution, at the beginning of a decade that saw a major transformation in both the physical campus and our intellectual ambitions.
I found them in the records from Rice’s semicentennial celebration in October, 1962. Both were taken at the inaugural ceremonies for Ken Pitzer. The first one is the more important, by far the best and most evocative image I’ve ever seen of George Brown and Pitzer together. More than anything else it was their successful partnership that made possible the dramatic changes of the 1960s:
This next one is just fun to look at. There’s a lot going on here and I have many more questions than answers. The only person I think I recognize is the guy sitting at the keyboard, who looks to be none other than Roland Pomerat (more here):
Bonus: Summer cleanup.
