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

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

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

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.

Related Material

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.

Detailed Description of the Collection