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

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. We will explore the implications of these histories for the university and the city in the present and moving forward.

Scientia Lecture - November 15, 2022 - 4 p.m. CST
McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall

Panelists:

Fay Yabrough, Associate Dean of Humanities, Professor of History, Rice University

W. Caleb McDaniel, Chair of History, Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Humanities, Rice University

Alexander X. Byrd, Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Rice University

Moderator:
Kathleen Canning, Dean of Humanities, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of History, Rice University

Clipping from an 1895 Map showing the Rice Institute's Louisiana Street Property in Houston's Fourth Ward: