Rice University centennial exhibits to be displayed around Houston

Three off-campus venues to host exhibits

The Houston Heritage Society, Bank of America and Houston Public Library will host exhibits related to Rice University’s centennial year over the next few months.

"William Marsh Rice: The Man and His Legacy" will be on exhibit at the Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park.

First up is “William Marsh Rice: The Man and His Legacy,” which opens Aug. 14 at the Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park. This exhibit will focus on the life of university founder William Marsh Rice, including his business partnership with Ebenezer Nichols, his vision for the Rice Institute and his sensationalized murder. Items from the archives that have not been on display before will be included. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 4. The Heritage Society is located at 1100 Bagby near the Rice-Nichols-Cherry House in which William Marsh Rice lived.

The “Vera Prasilova Scott Portraiture Collection” will be on display at the Bank of America Building, 700 Louisiana St., from Sept. 4 through Dec. 28. This exhibit will showcase the professional portraiture of Vera Prasilova Scott, who was married to Rice Institute physicist Arthur F. Scott. After the Scotts moved to Houston in 1926, Vera opened a photography studio on San Jacinto Street. Her clientele included Rice faculty as well as prominent local social and political families and visiting celebrities. The exhibit will include photographic prints, equipment and supplies dating from 1926 to 1937. The Bank of America Building is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Houston Public Library will exhibit “The Rice Institute: Planning, Construction, Opening and the First 10 Years” from Sept. 29 through Nov. 10. Photographs, news articles, artifacts, letters, Rice Institute records and memorabilia that document the development of the first institution of higher education in Houston will be on display in the library’s Julia Ideson Building, 550 McKinney St. The building is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Friday and Sunday.

Rice University will celebrate its centennial Oct. 10-14. For information about online and on-campus centennial exhibits, including “Celebrating Rice in Watercolor: Paintings by Frances Leland,” which opens Aug. 22 at the Cohen House, visit http://centennial.rice.edu/Exhibits.aspx.