urn:taro:rice.wrc.00010 Guide to President E. O. Lovett's Personal Papers, 1871-1957 Cary McStay Woodson Research Center August, 2000 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, January 2001. Finding aid written in English. Tue Jul 22 14:45:28 CDT 2003 urn:taro:rice.wrc.00010 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505). Guide to President E. O. Lovett's Personal Papers, 1871-1957 Cary McStay Woodson Research Center August, 2000 Descriptive Summary President E. O. Lovett - Personal Papers, 1871-1957, Bulk Dates 1908-1946 MS 60 7.5 cubic feet, 7.5 linear feet Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX Lovett, Edgar Odell Materials are in English. The personal papers of Edgar Odell Lovett, first President of Rice Institute, span almost his entire life. The collection has material about his education at UVA and in Europe, his career at Princeton, his hiring by the Board of Trustees of the Rice Institute, and extensive personal correspondence with friends and societies he was involved with throughout his life. The collection also includes reprints of articles and speeches written by Lovett throughout his life. Biographical Note

Edgar Odell Lovett, mathematics professor and president of Rice Institute (now Rice University), was born in Shreve, Ohio, on April 14, 1871, the son of Zephania and Maria Elizabeth (Spreng) Lovett. After graduating from Shreve High School he entered Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia, where he graduated in 1890 at the age of nineteen. From 1890 until 1892 he was professor of mathematics at West Kentucky College; in 1892 he became an instructor at the University of Virginia, where he continued his studies and received the degree of M.A. and Ph.D. in 1895. The following year he studied in Europe at the universities of Christiana and Leipzig; he received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the latter in 1896. In 1897 Lovett lectured at Johns Hopkins University and the universities of Virginia and Chicago. In September of that year he became instructor in mathematics at Princeton University. He was promoted to assistant professor and head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton.

In 1907 he was asked to head Rice Institute, then being planned at Houston; he was recommended for the post by Woodrow Wilson, then president of Princeton. He accepted in 1908, moved to Houston, and was formally inaugurated as the first president of the institute on October 12, 1912; he continued in this capacity until his retirement on March 1, 1946. Thereafter, he was associated with Rice as president emeritus, director, and consultant.

He was a member of many learned societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, the London Mathematical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Circolo Matematico di Palermo, Societe Mathematique de France, and the Royal Astronomical Society. The degree of L.L.D. was conferred on him by Drake University, Tulane University, Baylor University, and Bethany; that of Sc.D. was conferred upon him by Colorado College. In 1898 Lovett married Mary Ellen Hale of Mayfield, Kentucky; they had two daughters and two sons. He died on August 13, 1957, and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston.

Excerpted from The New Handbook of Texas, vol. 4, 1996. 308.

Scope and Contents Note

The personal papers of Edgar Odell Lovett span almost his entire life. The collection has material about his education at UVA and in Europe, his career at Princeton, his hiring by the Board of Trustees of the Rice Institute, and extensive correspondences with friends and societies he was involved with throughout his life. The collection includes Lovett's personal correspondence, material about academic societies,reprints of articles and speeches produced by Lovett throughout his life. Whereas the Lovett presidential collection in the Rice University Archives does not include much information from the 1930s, these papers include a great deal of material from that time period.

Preferred Citation:

President E. O. Lovett's Personal Papers, 1871-1957, MS 60, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University

Acquisition Information

The personal papers of Lovett were once part of the official Rice presidential papers. In the summer of 2000, these papers were removed from the archive collection and designated as a manuscript collection because of their unofficial nature.

 Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials from President E.O. Lovett - Personal Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

 Related Material

For more information on Lovett, please consult the presidential papers in the Rice University Archives, at the Woodson Research Center, as well as Woodson Research Center's Information Files on Lovett.

Index Terms Subjects College presidents. Mathematicians--United States. Subjects (Organizations) Rice University--History. Subjects (Persons) Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924. Formats Correspondence. Notes. Articles. Detailed Description of the Collection Series I. General 1887-1950 5 document boxes.

Boxes 1-5 contain information related to Lovett's years at Princeton, as well as mathematical notes, personal memorabilia, and even a copy of Lovett's Leipzig dissertation. Box 5 deals specifically with Lovett's relationship with Woodrow Wilson.

 1 1 TILKA member roster, 1889-1890 12 Houston Art League 13 Literary Jottings 14 Newspaper Clipping Re: Houston Music Festival Association, Texas Welfare Commission, 1912 15 Masonic Membership, 1907 16 Misc. notes, articles, and memorabilia 2 1 Princeton Discipline Committee 22 Lecture notes, 1893-1894, G. W. Hill lectures, Columbia 23 Notes 24 Notes 25 Correspondence Re: Dissertation, notes 26 Notes 27 Notes-Mathematical, 1923 28 The Theory of Perturbations and Lie's Theory of Contact-transformations - Lovett's Leipzig dissertation 3 1 Princeton Astronomical Expedition, 1902-1907 32 MS copy of Article on Problem of Dirichlet 33 Math Problems, 1891-1900 34 No-Tsu-Oh Carnival, 1911-1912 35 Personal and Miscellaneous, 1894-1951 36 Letters of Recommendation and Correspondence Re: Minnesota professorship, 1897 67 Certificates 68 Lovett, Dr. E. O., Miscellaneous, 1907-1950 69 Newspaper Clippings, 1922, 1927 610 Rice News Clippings, 1911-1941 611 Rice News Clippings, 1909-1931 612 Rice News Clippings, folder 2, 1910-1928 613 Personal Miscellaneous 4 1 Receipts: Miscellaneous, 1937-1948 42 Receipts: Clothing, 1933-1946 43 Receipts: University Club (in NYC), Rice Faculty Club, 1933-1946 44 Receipts: Stationary, Books, 1937-1948 45 Receipts: Books for Lovett's office, 1935-1937 46 Receipts: Medical, 1935-1948 47 Receipts: Floral, 1940-1947 48 Bills-Receipts: Houston Country Club, 1932-1945 5 1 Lovett-Wilson and Axson-Wilson Papers, microfilm 52 Newspaper Clippings Re: Wilson, 1910-1965 53 Wilson-Lovett Correspondence, 1904-1923 54 Wilson-Lovett Correspondence, typed transcripts 55 Miscellaneous Material and Clippings Re: Wilson 56 Book jackets of books about Wilson Series II. Academic Societies, 1903-1956 5 document boxes.

Boxes 6-10 house Series II. This series contains information about Lovett's involvement with the American Philosophical Society, various mathematical and astronomical societies, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.

 6 1 American Philosophical Society, 1903-1916 62 American Philosophical Society, 1917-1920 63 American Philosophical Society, 1921-1926 64 American Philosophical Society, 1927-1928 65 American Philosophical Society, 1929 66 American Philosophical Society, 1930 7 1 American Philosophical Society, 1931-1933 72 American Philosophical Society, 1934 73 American Philosophical Society, 1935 74 American Philosophical Society, 1936-1937 75 American Philosophical Society, 1938-1939 76 American Philosophical Society, 1940-1941 77 American Philosophical Society, 1942-1943 8 1 American Philosophical Society, 1944-1945 82 American Philosophical Society, 1946-1948 83 American Philosophical Society, 1949-1956 84 Astronomical Societies, 1916-1926 85 Astronomical Societies, 1927-1935 86 Astronomical Societies, 1936-1940 87 Astronomical Societies, 1941-1955 9 1 Mathematical Societies, 1908-1912 92 Mathematical Societies, 1914-1917 93 Mathematical Societies, 1918-1922 94 Mathematical Societies, 1923-1927 95 Mathematical Societies, 1928 96 Mathematical Societies, 1929-1931 97 Mathematical Societies, 1932-1935 10 1 Philosophical Society of Texas, 1937-1938 102 Philosophical Society of Texas, 1939-1941 103 Philosophical Society of Texas, 1942-1943 104 Philosophical Society of Texas, 1944-1945 105 Philosophical Society of Texas, 1946-1956 Series III. Personal Correspondences, 1886-1955 4 document boxes.

Boxes 11-14 contain the personal correspondence of Lovett. These files contain many letters to and from Lovett, as well as many continuous strands of correspondences with long-time friends and colleagues.

 11 1 Correspondence, 1886-1903 112 Correspondence, 1904-1908 113 Correspondence Re: Marion Institute w/ J.T. Murfee and H. O. Murfee, 1908-1912 114 Correspondence, 1909-1918 115 Correspondence, 1920-1926 116 Correspondence, 1930-1931 117 Correspondence, 1932 12 1 Correspondence, 1933 122 Correspondence, 1934 123 Correspondence, 1935 124 Correspondence, 1936 125 Correspondence, 1937 126 Correspondence, 1938 13 1 Correspondence, 1939 132 Correspondence, 1940 133 Correspondence, 1941 134 Correspondence, 1942 135 Correspondence, 1943 136 Correspondence, 1944 14 1 Correspondence, 1945 142 Correspondence, 1946 143 Correspondence, 1947 144 Correspondence, 1948 145 Correspondence, 1949 146 Correspondence, 1950 147 Correspondence Re: Harry Hanszen Testimonial, Sept.-Oct., 1950 148 Correspondence, 1951-1955, n.d. Series IV. Reprints

Boxes 15-16 contain copies of Lovett's speeches and articles, including many of the articles or papers he wrote for mathematical journals and society meetings.

 15-16 Reprints