Our mission is to investigate Rice's past with respect to slavery, segregation, and racial injustice; to encourage frank and honest discussion about that past; and to identify suggestions for Rice's future. For more information, please read Our Charge.

Clipping from 1895 map showing Rice Institute property in the Fourth Ward

Houston, Rice, and Race: A History in the Fourth Ward

Scientia Lecture - November 15, 2022 - 4 p.m. CST

The histories of the city of Houston and of Rice University are both deeply implicated in the history of Jim Crow. Both also have rich histories of Black activism and institution building that sometimes intertwined. Join us for a discussion of the illuminating documents of Black life in the Bayou City compiled in “The Red Book of Houston” (1915) and for a preview of new research from Rice’s Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice regarding the long overlooked early history of the Rice Institute in Houston’s Fourth Ward.

Photo of building

Message to the Rice Community - June 16, 2021

Since starting its work formally in December 2019, the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice has launched numerous initiatives to address our three-part charge.

Research about Slavery

Update on Research about Slavery

Founder’s Memorial

Update on the Founder’s Memorial