Author Archives: Melissa Kean

Before I leave for vacation I need to tell you all how astonished I was by the reaction to my retirement. Honestly, I had no idea. The comments, emails, and facebook comments were deeply moving and I’m so very grateful … Continue reading →

Sometimes I come across something so surprising I’m simply struck dumb. This is an amazing letter from Miss Dean ’16, Rice’s acting librarian until 1946 and a generally formal and quite serious person, at least while she was at work. … Continue reading →

This started as a Friday Follies post because I saw this snippet in the February, 1965 Sallyport and immediately recognized comic perfection. Everything about this story is just as it should be: Then I started researching the stretcher-ridden patient, Dick Wesley … Continue reading →

One of the small silver linings of being stuck at home by the corona virus is that I’ve had plenty of time to troll around on eBay for good Rice stuff. This February, 1954 issue of Coach & Athlete magazine … Continue reading →

I ran across this in a treasurer’s office scrapbook the other day and was actually quite surprised: I had no idea that the Rice business offices remained off campus for forty years. Originally in the Scanlan Building, they moved to … Continue reading →

I was looking for something in the Land Deeds and Sundry Contracts collection this afternoon and look what turned up–the bill for President Lovett’s office furniture, including the table that’s now in the Woodson. We paid $195 for it and … Continue reading →

I’ve been cleaning some stuff out of my office at home and I came across this photocopy that I made some time in the late 1990s. I vividly remember why I did this. I had come across a file copy … Continue reading →

Sad! Not only do I have no date for this (maybe ’70s?), I’m also not quite certain where the room was. I spent a lot of time in the gym before the big renovation but I can’t get a handle … Continue reading →

I’m fairly sure lots of people drank beer off campus but these guys got busted: I haven’t been able to find out whether they were allowed back in the dorms but I’d bet you  they weren’t. It sounds crazy to … Continue reading →

I was rifling through some 8x10s yesterday and this one caught my attention: It was the ties, of course, which are substantial and which suggest early to mid 1980s, that I found so enchanting. But once you get past the … Continue reading →