The Chaille Rice Literary Society, named for the wife of early Rice trustee Benjamin Botts Rice, was one of several brought into being after World War II in the interest of providing more social opportunities for girls, who weren’t provided on-campus housing until 1957. The expansion was also intended to mitigate the growing exclusivity of the established Lits, which became rather more intense as the student population expanded. I honestly don’t know whether that part worked out or not but by the 1970s changing times and the college system led to the demise of all the Lits. Chaille Rice itself folded in 1968.

Before they went out, though, they did some very nice things. I found these pages in the scrapbook that chronicles their 1964-65 school year and I was so taken with the pictures inside the classroom. Look closely and you can see real delight in the children’s faces. Dow Elementary, I think, was in the Old Sixth Ward area. I’m not sure but the building might still be there although the school, like the Chaille Rice Literary Society, is defunct.