Rice History Corner

If you think you’re tired now, check this out. They had a tennis tournament! A Farewell Meeting! (That must have been a tear fest.) They had a Final Ball!

Sorry it’s cockeyed. No time to fix it.

Oh by the way, I happen to have right here the program for the Final Ball:

The most interesting thing about it is the list of patrons so I’ll show you the whole thing:

A query: Notice that the dance on Friday is called a “Senior German.” Some dances during this era were called “German” and others “American.” I haven’t been able to figure out what these designations meant. Does anyone out there know?

Bonus: Almost ready.

Here’s how they do it:

This seems to be a wet Jones School investiture. My guess is it was taken in the late ’80s or early ’90s but it reminds me of the olden days when they used to hold graduation ceremonies under a tent in front of the Chemistry Building.

(Many thanks to the unusually alert faculty member who realized the image was flipped!)

Bonus: This morning we had the meeting to talk about what to do if it rains for commencement.

Sadly, this is still the answer:

And if that first picture reminds you of something, it’s probably this one from the inclement weather meeting last year:

I can’t quite recall where I came across this but it must have been in one of the old student scrapbooks:

And here we are this very day:

Getting ready for the ceremony and all the visitors is a time consuming process. We shine everything up for company but it’s also kind of like our version of spring cleaning. Even Willy needs a shower once in a while:

College kids–what won’t they think of?

May 6, 2012 was one of the best days ever for me at Rice. I got out of my car in West Lot 1 and saw this:

Dazzling, hilarious, completely unexpected and baffling all at the same time. I still smile every time I think of it. God bless America.

Bonus: Another weird one.

Today we have a fabulous pair of images from the camera of Verne Simons. It gradually came clear to me that not all the photos were taken at the same time–they seem to span the entire 1930s–but these two look like they might have been taken together. I’ve never seen anything quite like either one before.

The first is a great shot taken from the middle of the road that cut across the quad for decades. It’s always enjoyable to get a good look at the road itself but I was especially interested to see how much vegetation there was along the sides. It’s not just the cedar elm (which are still there) but also the hedges, some large shrubs, and what look to be crepe myrtles:

This next one was taken from just a few steps away and it really gives you a good idea of how much unexpected stuff was growing along the sidewalk :

Bonus: This is what Professor Simons’ pictures were in.

Verne Simons came to Rice in 1929 to teach accounting and remained here for forty years. His high standards helped prepare generations of students for outstanding careers. When he retired the Chronicle ran a long piece about his commitment to teaching and the impact he had on this students:

Here he is receiving the award from the Alumni Association in 1969:

Professor Simons also took pictures.

Thanks to his son, Herbert Simons, I was able to make scans of some of his shots of the Rice campus. They are the best kind of pictures, I think, ones that let me see the campus in new ways and from a very definite perspective. Like a few other photographers I’ve come across in the archives, Mr. Simons’ personality comes through in his choices.

Just for fun I’ll start with this. I’ve seen plenty of images taken from this spot but never one like this, where the photographer crouched down and shot through the columns:

Bonus: Everything is getting cleaned up for commencement.

Click here to listen to my wonderful colleague in the Woodson Norie Guthrie talk about the ktru tapes she’s working with and the glorious surprises they contain. She’s on KUHF’s Houston Matters program and her interview starts at 43:18. It’s really good. I first heard it in a cab and I couldn’t stop myself from bragging to the driver that she’s my friend.

By the way, not a single day goes by that I don’t stop and give thanks for the people who work in the Woodson. I’m profoundly grateful to every one of them.

Bonus: Behind the library. It looks like someone just gave up.

Today is Good Friday for me so I’ll be out until probably Tuesday.

I was looking at a file cabinet full of old video and when I turned around I was happily surprised to see two pictures of campus I’d never seen before.

The first is just a lovely image made in 1923 of the Administration Building and the landscaping around it from an angle we rarely find:

The other one is even more remarkable, a fantastic view of the back of the Fieldhouse taken in, I think, 1922. The birds aren’t real but the airplane is:

I promised to bring them back but they turned out to be the originals so I’m not going to! Don’t worry, though–I’ll make nice copies for them.

Bonus: Hallelujah.

here’s a humdinger.

Someone had the boxes of oversized photos out the other day so I started poking around in them a bit. I have limited tolerance for this because all the pictures are in envelopes and it’s just a hassle to get them out and then back in. (I have problems too, you know.)

Anyway, much to my delight some interesting shots turned up. The subject is the library but as usual the good stuff is not what was intended. Actually, in this first image the interesting part smacks you right in the face. Look at those hedges! From this angle it all seems a bit much:

It’s undated but I’d guess it to be sometime in the 1950s based on the football stadium in the background and the presence of the library’s original facade.

The real thrill, though, is provided by the next image: a close up look at the original works of a German High Hat!

I can’t remember off the top of my head when they were changed (’70s? ’80s?) but they look quite different now:

Bonus: Loyal reader Marty Merritt sends these shots from the roof of the Shepherd School where he went to retrieve a kite. Lucky for us he was alert enough to stop and snap a few — they’re nice! Many thanks, Marty.