Fondren Library Staff News | Category | Woodson Research Center

Fondren Fellow exhibit: The Life and Legacy of Jesse H. Jones

Posted on September 13, 2017 by dmf4 0

We are happy to announce that our new exhibit, The Life and Legacy of Jesse H. Jones, is now available online! The following is a report from our Fondren Fellow Corinne Wilkinson, who created this exhibit:

The exhibit explores the impact of Jesse H. Jones on the city of Houston and the United States as a whole through Jones’s lifelong work as an entrepreneur, politician, and philanthropist. Jones rose from humble beginnings to build a significant portion of downtown Houston in the first half of the twentieth century, then took his talents to Washington, D.C. to help rescue the nation’s finances. In his role as chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Jones became known as the second most powerful man in Washington (after President Roosevelt himself) and was responsible for stabilizing the nation’s banks and mobilizing the country for World War II.

The exhibit highlights items from several of the Woodson’s collections, including the Jesse H. Jones Family & Personal Papers, the Jesse H. Jones Corporate and Property Records, and the J. Russell Wait Port of Houston papers. Jones was responsible for building a large portion of downtown Houston in the mid-twentieth century; many of his buildings are still standing today. This exhibit includes an interactive map showing the location of 25 of Jones’s buildings downtown. Clicking on a point on the map reveals a photograph and more information about each building, including the date it was built and demolished.

While Jones had a significant impact in Washington with his role in reconstruction finance, his story is particularly pertinent to Houstonians, as his name and legacy is prevalent throughout the city. Together with his wife, Mary Gibbs Jones, he established the Houston Endowment, dedicated at its inception to supporting educational opportunities for minorities.

Jesse Jones is a fascinating man to research, and his collections in the Woodson Research Center hold a wealth of documents and photographs that truly showcase his character and dedication to his greater community.

We want to thank Corinne again for all of her hard work over the summer!

New exhibits on World War I, Sammy the Owl, and Brazilian chapbooks

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Rebecca 0

Red Cross exhibit

Woodson Research Center has several new exhibits now on display in Fondren and in the RMC.

2017 is the centennial year of the U.S. involvement in World War I (1914-19). In collaboration with Rice University’s Anthropology Department, an exhibit in the cases near the east entrance of the library focuses on Camp Logan, a World War I training camp once situated in what is today Memorial Park in northwest Houston.

Location of Camp Logan in today’s Memorial Park

“Camp Logan in Memorial Park: Houston’s Hidden History” was co-curated by Rice undergraduate student Dylan Dickens (Martel ’18), Dr. Jeffrey Fleisher, and Rebecca Russell. Although the centennial is the inspiration for the exhibit, Rice University faculty, staff, and students have been involved in researching and preserving Camp Logan’s history for some time; the Woodson Research Center has a collection of papers related to a soldier’s time at the camp, and the Anthropology Department have been investigating Camp Logan archaeologically since 2015. These collections and the results of this research form part of the exhibit.

In the 1st floor hallway, “Camp Logan Centennial postcards” features selections of historic postcards depicting images of soldiers training at Camp Logan. The postcards are on loan from the Robbie Morin Camp Logan Collection.

Inside the Woodson Research Center, “Do Your Bit: the American Red Cross during World War I” features selections from Woodson Research Center collections about the American Red Cross during World War I and local efforts at Rice Institute and Houston to support the war effort.

Rice Auxiliary Red Cross members

In the flat cases outside of the Woodson Research Center, a small exhibit features selections from the Richard and Sandra Lauderdale Graham Brazilian Chapbook Collection. The inexpensively printed booklets or pamphlets known as cordel literature (from the Portuguese term literatura de cordel, literally “string literature”) originated in rural northeastern Brazil as humble poets and artists used this means to reach a popular audience. Containing folk novels, poems, and songs illustrated initially with woodblock prints and later with photo images, these booklets were sold at fairs and by street vendors. Production of the booklets reached a peak in the 1920’s and 1930’s, but the present collection makes clear that they were still being created in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Brazilian Chapbooks

In the Rice Memorial Center trophy case, an exhibit in conjunction with Rice Athletics’ new branding initiative, highlights the evolution of the Rice Athletics mascot Sammy the Owl through University Archives’ photographs, memorabilia, and ephemera.

Sammy the Owl

Fondren Fellows: Mapping Civil War Narratives

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Rebecca 1

Woodson Research Center is happy to announce Mapping Civil War Narratives, is now available online! Created by Fondren Fellow Christina Regelski, the series of maps uses ArcGIS to highlight some of the Woodson’s numerous Civil War collections (1861-1865). Researchers can now explore the multiple geographies of over 300 Civil War-era letters. From military operations to disease to courtship, these maps convey the potential of our archives’ diverse stories. You can, for example, follow the particular route of a soldier in the Army of the Potomac through his letters or explore the communication in and out of a single city. Use filters to see where men and women were discussing slavery, politics, battles, or military medicine.

Visit the website to take a tour of these maps. Or, if you are familiar with ArcGIS, scroll to the website’s last page to go directly to our two feature maps. View the connections between where letters from each collection were sent and received.

Or look at individual locations to see where letters were written, where they were received, and what locations the authors mentioned within their letters during four years of war. You can explore the collections by mutual themes, as well. See where authors discussed battles, politics, or particular officers.

Part of an ongoing effort under the new Fondren Fellows program, we expect to continue to grow and evolve this project as more of Woodson’s collections are added.

We want to thank Christina Regelski, our Fondren Fellow, for all of her hard work over the fall semester!

Phrenology – bumps on your head defining your aptitudes?

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Rebecca 0

Phrenology model and human skull

The Woodson Research Center is collaborating with Rice’s Humanities Research Center and the Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Archives to host local high school students on field trips to Rice exploring the medical humanities.

Lecture portion of the field trip
Rachel Conrad Bracken, a Civic Humanist Fellow at the Humanities Research Center, has developed a lecture entitled “Diagnosing Deviance: How Social Norms Influence our Definitions of Health and Disease,” with the 19th century science of phrenology as a case study to “explore how cultural understandings of race and gender biased medical diagnoses and popular perceptions of “ideal” facial features. ”

Archives portion of the field trip
After Rachel’s lecture and discussion, the students gather in one of Fondren’s collaborative spaces, and have a hands-on experience with archival materials which relate to phrenology and other outmoded models of medicine.

Osterhout phrenological chart

From the Woodson Research Center, the John P. Osterhout Phrenological Chart (https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/27054) shows a 19th century doctor’s evaluation of Mr. Osterhout, measuring his relative powers on a scale of 1-7, and suggesting appropriate careers for him. Strangely, even though he was rated as having a low level of perception and memory of sizes, it was suggested he might be a good mechanic.

Another example from Woodson includes the Mirabeau B. Lamar travel journal of 1835, in which Lamar (who went on to become the second president of the Republic of Texas) describes a speaker in a local church on the topic of phrenology, and whether one can tell from the shape of a man’s head whether he will commit murder (Lamar journal, pg 12).

Students examine phrenological materials

The Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Archives, represented by Phil Montgomery, brought a phrenological model, a human skull from their research collection, and handed out blank charts for the students to use in trying their own analysis.

Phil also brought a variety of older medical tools such as an early surgery kit, a lancet for bleeding patients, and an early electric shock therapy tool.

Impact
The students really enjoyed seeing the tools of the trade for these outmoded medical models and were inspired to include archives in their future research. Seeing the original tools in person helped the students see how seriously these concepts were in their day, even as we see them now as quack medicine. To quote Rachel’s lecture, “by learning to recognize the flaws in outdated models of medicine and anatomy, students can begin to see how contemporary medicine, too, is shaped by the diagnostic technologies and scientific knowledge available to us—knowledge always mediated by our culture and subject to change.”

Woodson exhibits feature Houston in 1912, Jesse Jones and historic postcards

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Rebecca 0

Woodson Research Center has several new exhibits now on display in Fondren. One of our fantastic student workers, Camille created two exhibits this fall. In the Lovett Lounge on the 3rd Floor, Camille created an exhibit focusing on Houston in 1912.

View of downtown Houston in 1912

Camille also created the exhibit in the cases outside the Woodson Research Center about the Sallyport. The Sallyport was once a central spot for socializing in Rice’s early days, but now Rice undergrads avoid walking through the Sallyport except for Matriculation and Commencement or else risk not graduating within 4 years.

View through Sallyport on opening day of Rice Institute, October 6, 1912

“From Tennessee kid to Texas businessman: the Story of Jesse H. Jones” selections from the Jesse H. Jones Family and Personal Papers are displayed in the cases near the east entrance of the library. Through images and memorabilia, this exhibit chronicles the life and times of Jesse H. Jones from childhood to his political career during both world wars in Washington DC among the powerful and elite. Images of the many buildings he constructed, owned and operated in Houston are highlighted.

In the 1st floor hallway, “Postcard Charm at Rice” features historic postcards of Rice’s campus.

Residential Hall for Men, Rice Institute, 1912

Update on Fondren Fellows Program

Posted on October 13, 2016 by lspiro 0

As Rice promotes undergraduate research and experiential education, Fondren is sponsoring library-based research opportunities through the new Fondren Fellows program. The inaugural group of Fondren Fellows– three graduate students and one undergraduate– are working on a range of projects, from examining Rice’s research data management environment to mapping Civil War narratives. Learn about their research and dream up your own ideas for potential student projects; the call for the next round of Fellows projects will be going out soon.

Marcel LaFlamme, Author Rights

Graduate student in Anthropology
Mentor: Shannon Kipphut-Smith

This project aims to understand more about how tenure-stream faculty at Rice think about and act on their author rights in connection with their published work. Many faculty want to make their scholarly and professional output more accessible, whether by uploading it to Rice’s institutional depository or by posting it to an academic social network. However, faculty members may not always have a clear understanding of how and where they are permitted to share their work under the terms of the author agreements they have signed. This project uses interviews and document analysis to piece together the values, beliefs, and actually existing practices of faculty members, using participants’ most recent publication as a case study. The results will be used to improve the resources and services that Fondren offers to faculty, and they also stand to fill a gap in the scholarly communication research literature

Ian Lowrie, Developing a Culture of Care for Research Data at Rice

Graduate student in Anthropology
Mentor: Lisa Spiro

Data management has become a more pressing issue for researchers lately, as funding agencies are increasingly requiring researchers to present rationalized data management plans and to ensure access to their research data well after the completion of their funded research. However, institutional support for research data management is still a relatively new field, without established best practices. This project uses interviews with Rice faculty and data librarians at peer institutions to develop insight into the research data management environment at Rice, and develop comprehensive recommendations for how Fondren might best support ongoing efforts to develop policies and infrastructure to support research data management by both faculty and student researchers. It suggests that the existing Rice Digital Scholarship Archive could be profitably used to facilitate sharing and archiving of research data, and identifies a number of key areas where Fondren might assist departments in educating researchers about the importance and technical aspects of rationalized research data management

Neha Potlapalli, FitDesks

Junior, Will Rice College
Mentor: Sue Garrison and Melinda Flannery

During the Fall 2016 semester, Fondren Library will be reviewing alternative seating arrangements for possible student use. This can include bike desks, under desk ellipticals, treadmill desks and more! Alternative desks can improve students’ cognitive function while studying and keep them active. With increasing research showing the dangers of extended sitting, alternative seating arrangements at Fondren can improve student health and grades. Student input is essential to this project to ensure Rice University students will positively benefit from this possible change.

Christina Regelski, Mapping Civil War Narratives

Graduate student in History
Mentors: Amanda Focke and Rebecca Russell

We designed our project, entitled “Mapping Civil War Narratives,” to make the Woodson Research Center’s rich Civil War-related collections more accessible to researchers. I will use ArcGIS to map where people wrote these documents and what locations they discussed in these documents. This interactive “bird’s-eye view” map will give these collections a new dynamism. Researchers will be able to see the multiple geographies of these collections and the interactions between them. A researcher, for example, could follow the particular route of a soldier in the Army of the Potomac, trace the exchange of letters between Confederate officers and Richmond, or use filters to see where men and women discussed race, politics, violence, or disease. This semester, I will focus first on mapping soldiers’ letters to their families in order to build a framework and methodology for the future expansion of this project to all of the Woodson’s Civil War-related collections. Additionally, I will use Esri Story Maps to highlight one particular collection in order to further show the interpretive possibilities of the Woodson’s collections.

Humanities students dig deep into Woodson archival collections

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Rebecca 0

This spring, the Woodson Research Center in partnership with the Humanities Research Center supervised two undergraduate students in archival research in the areas of medical humanities and cultural heritage. Students learned to apply their humanistic training to real-world problems and to put their critical thinking to use as they learned new practical skills. The students conducted deep research and analysis of primary sources and learned about the nature of archives.

Miriam Shayeb is a freshman English major and was selected to work with the Kezia Payne DePelchin Yellow fever epidemic letters, 1878-1879 (MS 201). This collection consists primarily of a bound volume of 34 letters, the majority of which were written by Mrs. Kezia Payne DePelchin (1828-1893) of Houston, to her sister, describing her experiences as a nurse during the Yellow fever epidemic of 1878 in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The letters have been digitized and transcribed and are available in the Rice Institutional Repository. Miriam analyzed the letters to gain insight into the treatment of illness in postbelllum South and the “interactions between doctors and nurses during an era in which nursing was not completely professionalized.” She also focused on the intersection of race and illness and nursing. She created two online articles on the OpenStax / cnx.org platform:
http://cnx.org/contents/tNujJ7F6@2/Unsung-Requiem-African-America
http://cnx.org/contents/WqpTQGyb@1/A-Mission-of-Mercy-Nursing-in-

Edna Otuomagie is a Junior Visual and Dramatic Arts (VADA) major and was selected to work on the Between Decisions Omeka Exhibit. Utilizing Fondren’s Omeka web-based exhibit platform, the exhibit explores how Rice University historically handled gender/sex and race relations through discussion of the huge decisions Rice made concerning these issues from 1957 to 1970—a time when Rice underwent many changes including desegregation based on gender/sex and race. Edna researched the topic in the university archives and spoke with University Historian Melissa Kean and others in the Rice community. Edna created a fascinating exhibit on a topic of great interest that had not been covered in a succinct but over-arching way. Her exhibit is available online: http://exhibits.library.rice.edu/exhibits/show/between-decisions Edna was honored with First Prize in the School of Humanities for her research and received the Humanities Research Center’s First Prize at the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Jacqueline McCauley at Rice University, 1965

Both students created thoughtful archival research projects and delivered them in accessible ways online to a broader audience. The Woodson looks forward to future collaborations with HRC.

Rare books and anniversaries commemorated with Fondren Exhibits

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Rebecca 0

Several new exhibits are currently on display in Fondren Library and in the RMC. In the RMC Trophy Case, an exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first black undergraduates enrolled at Rice University.

1973 Campanile

On the first floor of Fondren Library, “Rare Books: Curiosities in a Digital Age” highlights the importance of rare books as physical objects. The exhibit was created by Woodson Research Center’s graduate student intern Trevor McNally.

Also on display on the first floor Information Commons area are examples of medieval manuscript facsimiles.

On the third floor Lovett Lounge, Woodson Research Center student worker Camille Chenevert (Baker ’19) created an exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first graduating class from Rice.

Dance cards from 1916 commencement ball

First graduates 1916

13 Years of Shepherd School Concert Programs Now Online

Posted on October 29, 2015 by sjc5 0

More than 2,300 recital and concert programs of Shepherd School performances are now available online in the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive.

A collaborative project encompassing several of Fondren’s departments, the digitized pamphlets cover 13 years of performances presented by the Shepherd School of Music, dating from 1983 until the Spring of 1996. Having reached this project milestone, the library will continue work on Shepherd School programs dating from the Fall of 1996 onward.

The Rice Digital Scholarship Archive is the repository of the university’s intellectual output. Most materials come from Rice faculty research, electronic theses and dissertations, and digitized collections of rare or unique books, images, and manuscripts. Along with the Shepherd programs, the Archive also contains the audio from approximately 340 Shepherd School concerts and recitals, ranging from 1975 to 1983.

New exhibits highlight Economic Summit, Flying, and Football

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Rebecca 0

Several new exhibits have recently been installed in Fondren and in the RMC. On the third floor of Fondren, the 25th anniversary of the Economic Summit, held at Rice University in July 1990 is remembered.

G7 leaders at Rice, July 1990

In the glass cases outside Woodson Research Center, selections from the Benjamin M. Anderson Historical Aeronautical collection highlight the artistry of flying, particularly in the early days of flight.

Art of Flying

In the RMC trophy case, Woodson student workers created an exhibit showcasing Rice Football Bowl visits. The exhibit features memorabilia, footballs, programs, and photographs highlighting Rice’s appearances at Sugar, Cotton, Aloha, and other bowls over the years.

Sugar Bowl program

And in the cases near the east entrance of the library, selections from the Weber-Staub-Briscoe Architectural Collection are displayed. Pattern boards (design molds) and metal castings of architectural details such as stair rails, fencing, and other metalwork ornaments were manufactured by Weber Iron & Wire Company from the 1930’s to the 1990’s in Houston, Texas. More information about this collection is available in the IR https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/68494.

Swan ornament

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