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Brown College records, 1965-2002

Correspondence, newsclippings, obituaries, minutes, freshman materials, publications, governmental and budget documents as well as other information relating to the general operation of Brown College. (17 boxes)

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Descriptive Summary

Historical Sketch

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Restrictions

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Detailed Description of the Collection

Undated Items

1965-66

1966-67

1967-68

1968-69

1969-70

1970-71

1971-72

1972-73

1973-74

1974-75

1975-76

1976-77

1977-78

1978-79

1979-80

1980-81

1981-82

1982-83

1983-84

1984-85

1985-86

1986-87

1988-1996

Guide to the Rice University Margarett Root Brown College Records, 1965-2002





Descriptive Summary

Repository: Rice University Archives, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX
Creator: Rice University. Margarett Root Brown College.
Title: Rice University Margarett Root Brown College Records
Dates: 1965-2002
Quantity: 8.5 cubic feet (17 boxes)
Abstract: Correspondence, newsclippings, obituaries, minutes, freshman materials, publications, governmental and budget documents as well as other information relating to the general operation of Brown College. There are also files on the Brown students such as lists of members and room assignments. Brown College was dedicated on October 3, 1965 and was filled primarily by women who had volunteered to leave Jones College, then the only women's college, to start a new college.
Identification: Rice UA Brown College
Language: Materials are in English.

Historical Sketch

In 1963 Jones was the only women's college at Rice, and there was such a severe housing shortage that some Rice women were being housed in another university's dorms. In October of that year, George R. Brown and his wife Alice Pratt Brown donated one million dollars through the Brown Foundation to build a new dorm for women at Rice. The new college was established in memory of their sister-in-law, Margarett Root Brown, (1896-1963) who was the wife of the also late Hermann Brown. Margarett Brown was devoted to the fine arts as an art critic and collector and served on the boards of several of organizations. As a tribute to her love of the arts, the first floor of Brown College houses a wide variety of paintings and antique furniture donated by the George R. Brown family and others.

The College was dedicated on October 3, 1965 and was filled primarily by women who had volunteered to leave Jones College to start a new college. Since then other colleges have been added to Rice, and beginning in 1971 some colleges went co-ed. Brown held out as the last all female college until 1987 when it agreed to accept male members.

The College is an eight-story masonry structure on the northeast campus. The high-rise was devised to spare trees. In 2001 new construction will change the Brown College complex. An addition will connect to Brown College on four levels and will extend west of the College in the area occupied by the current Jones Masters' House. New Brown Commons will anchor the west end of Brown Quadrangle with the existing Brown Master's House on the South Side.

Excerpted from Rice University Construction Web Page and Brown College Web Page

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Scope and Contents

The Margarett Root Brown records consist of 8.5 cubic feet. Files included here pertain to activities, correspondence, newsclippings, obituaries, minutes, freshman materials, publications, governmental and budget documents as well as other information relating to the general operation of the college. There are also files on the Brown students such as lists of members and room assignments.

The following is a breakdown of the main subject headings and what their content may include. Some subject headings not listed here are self-explanatory.

Activities - Includes all functions and special events that Brown may participate in, i. e. College Night, Parents Day, Theater Productions, Awards Dinner, Brown Derby, Rondolet, Beer-Bike and guest lecturers. Also included are newspaper clippings and photographs on general subjects as well as RPC Calendars. Obituaries are included in this file.

Advisee Groups - see Associates

Alumni - Includes Homecoming information and other correspondence

Associates - Includes correspondence, invitations, etc. to Masters and Associates along with lists of associates, including faculty, resident and community associates and advisee groups. May also include photographs of Masters or Associates as well as news clippings about them.

Awards and Honors - Includes lists for Honor Roll, Phi Beta Kappa, Who's Who, Scholarship recipients, etc.

Budget - Includes and College and Master's budget. Also see Government for other budget reports.

College Courses - Correspondence and information regarding college courses offered by Brown College. These papers are filed by the year the course was taught, not necessarily by date of correspondence.

Commencement - List of degree candidates, list of honor graduates, Commencement program, order of program, platform list, and Baker's invitation to luncheon

Court Cases - see also Government

Freshman Materials - Includes mailings to freshmen such as Master's or Director's letter, schedules, Freshman Handbook, including constitution, by-laws and residence rules. There are various lists of cabinet members, etc., as well as room assignments and other information on Orientation Week.

Government - Includes governing documents, such as constitution, by-laws, residence rules, judicial code, alcohol policy. The Brown College Rules and Regulations booklets are located here. A list of Cabinet and Committee Chairmen are included as well as election and treasury information. Some court cases are filed under Government. Other miscellaneous documents governing college or university rules are located here.

Homecoming - see Alumni or Activities

Honors - see Awards and Honors

Members - Lists of Brown College Members - on and off campus by fall/spring

Minutes - Cabinet minutes; Harem and Forum minutes. May include backup material for budgets or elections

Newcomers - see Freshman Materials

Newspaper Clippings - see also Activities for general subjects; see individual files for specific topics, i. e., Associates, Sports, etc.

Obituaries - see Activities or News Clippings

Room Assignments - Lists by floor of fall/spring room assignments

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Arrangement

The files are arranged by fall/spring semester in chronological order, then alphabetically by subject within each year. Files received from Brown College in November 2002 were interfiled with the files (.75 cubic feet) already held by Woodson Research Center.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

No access restrictions, this material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Margarett Root Brown College Record group must be obtained from Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

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Related Material

See Rice University Archives for records of other Rice University residential colleges. Contact Woodson Research Center staff for assistance.

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Index Terms

Subjects (Persons)

Brown, Magarett Root.

Subjects (Organizations)

Rice University Archives.
Rice University - Residential college system.
Rice University - Alumna and alumnae.
Rice University - Margarett Root Brown College.

Formats

Awards.
Calendars.
Clippings.
Guidebooks.
Legal documents.
Minutes.
Obituaries.
Photographs.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Margarett Root Brown College Records, 1965-2002, Rice University Archives, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University

Acquisition Information

The original records held by Woodson Research Center (.75 cubic feet) were mostly from the files of one of the Brown College Associates, Nancy Parker Boothe. Other material included photocopies of newspaper articles, programs, etc., collected by the Woodson staff.

In November 2002 Woodson received twenty-two Eclipse File boxes of Brown College records dating from 1965-87 from Nancy Henry, Brown College Coordinator.

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Lee Pecht and Sharon Link, in 2003.

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Detailed Description of the Collection













Undated Items
Box Folder
1 1
Publications - ca 1960's-70's

2
Invitations
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1965-66
Box Folder
1 3
Activities

4
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

6
Construction and Dedication

7
Freshman Materials

8
Gifts

9
Government

10
Housing

11
Jobs

12
Master's Correspondence

13
Members

14
Minutes

15
Publications

16
Recommendations

17
Room Assignments
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1966-67
Box Folder
1 18
Activities

19
Associates

20
Awards and Honors

21
Budget

22
Curriculum

23
Freshman Materials

24
Government

25
Housing

26
Jobs

27
Members

28
Minutes

29
Publications

30
Room Assignments

31
Sports
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1967-68
Box Folder
2 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
Commencement

6
Court Report

7
Freshman Materials

8
Government

9
Housing

10
Members

11
Minutes

12
Publications
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1968-69
Box Folder
2 13
Activities

14
Associates

15
Awards and Honors

16
Budget

17
Calendar

18
College Courses

19
Commencement

20
Freshman Material

21
Government

22
Members

23
Minutes

24
(A Handbook of) Policies Rules and Regulations Affecting Undergraduate Life
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Box Folder
3 1-13 1969-70

1
Associates

2
Awards and Honors

3
Budget

4
Commencement

5
Court Abstract

6
Freshman Handbook Worksheets

7
Freshman Mailings and Orientation

8
Government

9
Jobs

10
Members

11
Minutes

12
Publications

13
Sports
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1970-71
Box Folder
3 14
Associates

15
Awards and Honors

16
Budget

17
College Courses

18
Commencement

19
Freshman Mailings

20
Freshman Week

21
Freshmen Lists

22
Government

23
Jobs

24
Master's and President's Committee

25
Members

26
Minutes

27
Publications

28
Room Rates
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1971-72
Box Folder
4 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
Career Counseling

6
College Courses

7
Commencement

8
Correspondence

9
Freshman Mailing

10
Freshman Packet

11
Freshman Week

12
Government

13
Members

14
Minutes - Brown College Cabinet

15
Minutes - Forum

16
Minutes - Harem

17
Publications

18
Room Assignments

19
Safety and Security
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Box Folder
5 1-15 1972-73

1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
Co-ed Housing

6
College Courses

7
Commencement

8
Freshman Week

9
Government

10
Members

11
Minutes

12
Publications

13
Room Assignments and RCMAC

14
Security

15
Sports
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1973-74
Box Folder
6 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
College Courses

6
Commencement

7
Freshman Materials and Mailings

8
Government

9
Mailouts

10
Members

11
Minutes (missing 1/03)

12
Publications

13
Room Assignments

14
Security

15
Sports
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1974-75
Box Folder
7 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
Co-ed Transfer Policy

6
College Courses

7
Commencement

8
Food Service

9
Freshman Materials and Mailings

10
Government

11
Members

12
Minutes

13
Policies and Regulations Affecting Student Life

14
Residential Contracts

15
Room Assignments

16
Security

17
Sports
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1975-76
Box Folder
8 1
Activities

2
Alumni

3
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

5
B & G, RCMAC

6
Budget

7
Co-ed College

8
College Courses

9
Commencement

10
Correspondence

11
Freshman Materials

12
Government

13
Members

14
Minutes

15
Room Assignments

16
Security

17
Sports

18
Summer Shutdown
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1976-77
Box Folder
9 1
Activities

2
Alumni

3
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

5
The Brown Foundation Challenge

6
Budget

7
Co-ed Colleges

8
College Courses

9
Commencement

10
Flood

11
Food and Housing

12
Freshman Materials

13
Government

14
Members

15
Minutes

16
Room Assignments

17
Sports
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1977-78
Box Folder
10 1
Activities

2
Alumni

3
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

5
Budget

6
Co-ed Colleges

7
College Courses

8
Commencement

9
Freshman Materials

10
Government

11
Mailings

12
Members

13
Minutes

14
Room Assignments

15
Sports
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Box Folder
11 1-14 1978-79

1
Activities

2
Alumni

3
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

5
Budget

6
College Courses

7
Commencement

8
Freshman Materials

9
Government

10
Mailings

11
Members

12
Minutes

13
Room Assignments

14
Sports
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1979-80
Box Folder
12 1
Activities

2
Alumni

3
Associates

4
Awards and Honors

5
Budget

6
College Courses

7
Commencement

8
Freshman Materials

9
Government

10
Members

11
Minutes

12
Room Assignments

13
Sports
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1980-81
Box Folder
12 14
Activities (15th Anniversary)

15
Associates

16
Awards and Honors

17
Budget

18
Commencement
Box Folder
13 1
Freshman Materials

2
Government

3
Mailings

4
Members

5
Minutes

6
Room Assignments

7
Sports
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1981-82
Box Folder
13 8
Activities

9
Associates

10
Awards and Honors

11
Budget

12
Commencement

13
Freshman Materials

14
Government

15
Members

16
Minutes

17
Room Assignments

18
Sports
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1982-83
Box Folder
14 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
Budget

5
Commencement

6
Freshman Materials

7
Gift (for 15th Anniversary)

8
Government

9
Members

10
Minutes

11
Room Assignments

12
Sports
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1983-84
Box Folder
14 13
Activities

14
Associates

15
Awards and Honors

16
Budget

17
College Courses

18
Commencement
Box Folder
15 1
Freshman Materials

2
Gifts

3
Government

4
Members

5
Minutes

6
Publications ( Rice's Quest)

7
Room Assignments
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1984-85
Box Folder
15 8
Activities

9
Associates

10
Awards and Honors

11
Commencement

12
Freshman Materials

13
Government

14
Members

15
Minutes

16
Room Assignments
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1985-86
Box Folder
16 1
Activities

2
Associates

3
Awards and Honors

4
College Courses

5
Commencement

6
Court Report

7
Freshman Materials

8
Gifts

9
Government

10
Members

11
Minutes

12
Room Assignments
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