Guide to the William North Rice Papers, 1861 - 1955 (bulk 1861

Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Collection Overview

Restrictions

Online Catalog Headings

Related Material

Administrative Information

Alternate Finding Aids

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series 1. Diaries and Correspondence, 1861-1927

Series 2. Teaching and Education, 1869-1928

Series 3. Publications, Addresses, and Sermons, 1867-1955 (bulk 1867-1927)

Guide to the William North Rice Papers, 1861 - 1955 (bulk 1861 - 1928)


Descriptive Summary
Repository	Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University
Creator	Rice, William North
Title	William North Rice Papers,
Dates	1861 - 1955 (bulk 1861 - 1928)
Linear Feet	4.5
Archival Boxes	10
Abstract	William North Rice (1845-1928) was a graduate and long-time faculty member and administrator at Wesleyan University. As a student, he was a member of Phi Nu Theta. He was known as a scientist, minister, and educational expert.
	The William North Rice Papers contain diaries, correspondence, account books, teaching materials, writings, lectures, and sermons related to Rice's interests in Wesleyan University, science, religion, and education in general. Specific topics include coeducation at Wesleyan University, campus politics and activities, and issues related to students, faculty, and trustees. Rice's interests in geology, botany, mineralogy, crystallography, and zoology are represented, as is his interest in the relationship between science and religion.
Call Number	1000-123
Location	For current information on the location of these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University.
Language of Material	Material in English

Biographical Note

Born in 1845, William North Rice, of Springfield, Massachusetts, entered Wesleyan University in August 1861 at the age of fifteen. He graduated in 1865 as the valedictorian of his class, and went on to the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University to receive the first Ph.D. awarded in the United States in geology in 1867. After further study in Europe, he returned to Wesleyan to teach natural science courses, a very new field in the existing academic world of Greek and Latin literature and mathematics.

He served as Professor of Geology and Natural History, 1868-1884; G.I. Seney Professor of Geology, 1884-1918; G.I. Seney Professor of Geology Emeritus, 1918-1928; and as acting president of the university, 1907, 1908-1909, and 1918. He died 13 November 1928, after a 67-year association with Wesleyan.

Rice was distinguished not only for his knowledge of geological formations throughout the mountains of Connecticut and Massachusetts, but also for his many publications and sermons as a Methodist minister.

In addition, Rice was a prolific writer. Along with several books, he wrote dozens of sermons and lectures which were published in newspapers and journals. He was a frequent contributor to Zion's Herald, a religious publication of the Boston Wesleyan Assocation, as well as to other religious and secular newspapers. His writings often dealt with the conflict many people experienced, in the first half-century after the publictaion of Darwin's Origin of the Species, between new scientific thought and Biblical tradition. Other lectures and sermons were strictly theological in nature.

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Collection Overview

The William North Rice Papers contain diaries, correspondence, account books, teaching materials, writings, lectures, and sermons related to Rice's interests in Wesleyan University, science, religion, and education in general. The Diaries and Correspondence series includes personal diaries and account books kept by William North Rice during his time as a Wesleyan University student, and correspondence from family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow alumni from throughout his life. The subject of many of the diary entries and letters is Wesleyan University, and these writings contain information about academics, social life, campus groups, co-education, trustee maters, campus politics, selection of presidents, alumni affairs, coeducation, student discipline, and faculty recruitment.

The Teaching and Education series includes record books, lecture notes, examination questions, and tributes and memorials. The record books record student grades for the courses taught by Rice. His lecture notes cover subjects including botany, geology, mineralogy and crystallography, zoology and "science and religion." The examination questions include those used by Rice in his own teaching, as well as entrance examination questions for Wesleyan University and other New England colleges and universities. The tributes and memorials to Rice, as well as obituaries, offer information about Rice's teaching and scholarly career. Also included in this series is a hand-drawn sketch of Rice made by Mrs. Calvin Sears Harrington.

The Publications, Addresses, and Sermons series contains materials created by Rice on the topics of Wesleyan University, education, geology and science, and religion. An index of sermons and publications can be found at the beginning of the series.

Collection Arrangement

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Related Material

Related material can be found in the Special Collections & Archives Vertical Files and in other archival collections. Please contact Special Collections & Archives for more information.

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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Botany.

Christianity.

Coeducation --United States.

Crystallography.

Diaries.

Education, Higher.

Geology.

Mineralogy.

Religion and science.

Rice, William North, 1845-1928.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --Administration.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --Alumni and alumnae.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --Faculty.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --Greek letter societies.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --History.

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) --Students.

Zoology.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], William North Rice Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Donated by William Abbott Rice in December 1960.

Processing Information

Processed by Marjorie A. Biafore, 1979; Elizabeth A. Swaim and University Archives Staff, 1981; Sabena Leake, 1988; Diana Perron, 1989; Valerie Gillispie, 2006

Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, 2006

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Alternate Finding Aids

An older, printed finding aid is also available for use in Special Collections & Archives.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Series 1. Diaries and Correspondence, 1861-1927

The Diaries and Correspondence series includes personal diaries and account books kept by William North Rice during his time as a Wesleyan University student, and correspondence from family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow alumni from throughout his life.

Diaries date from Rice's years as a student at Wesleyan, and include information about academics, social life, campus groups, and other Wesleyan-related observations. Some transcripts, made by Rice's grandson, are available in this collection as well. The "Letters Home from Wesleyan" were mainly written to Rice's father, William Rice, who served on the Wesleyan Board of Trustees. Some of these letters also include paragraphs separately addressed to other family members. Other letters were specifically addressed to other family members. Other correspondence addresses the issue of coeducation at Wesleyan during its first phase of admitting female students. There is also congratulatory correspondence regarding Rice's 50th anniversary of graduation from Wesleyan and his 80th birthday. Rice also corresponded frequently with his son about Wesleyan topics.

The final part of this series consists of letters arranged by the last name of the correspondent. Most of these writers were Wesleyan alumni, and most only wrote one or two letters. Topics include opinions on trustee matters, campus politics, selection of presidents, alumni affairs, coeducation, student discipline, and faculty recruitment.

Volume

Diary, January 1861-January 1863

Volume

Diary, January 1864-February 1865

Box

Folder

Diary, 1865

Folder

Account book, August 1861-December 1862

Folder

Account book, January 1864-July 1867

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 23 August-29 December 1861

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 5 January-28 May 1862

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 2 June-28 December 1862

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 4 January-30 May 1863

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 9 June-19 December 1863

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 4 January-25 June 1864

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 6 July-31 December 1864

Folder

Letters home from Wesleyan, 21 January-13 July 1865

Folder

Letters from WNR to various persons, 1862-1925

Folder

Letters to WNR from his father, 1868-1897

Folder

Letters to WNR from relatives, 1870-1918

Folder

Elizabeth W. C. Rice letters, 1882, 1905

1882 letter contains news and anecdotes about members of the Wesleyan community in 1882, male and female, old and young.

This file was transferred from Special Collections & Archives Vertical Files in 2006.

Folder

Correspondence regarding co-education, 1909

Folder

Correspondence regarding co-education and other Wesleyan topics, 1868-1910

This folder of letters was separated from the rest of the William North Rice collection until 2006. Researchers using the collection prior to 2006 would not have seen these letters.

Folder

Letters to WNR on 50th anniversary of graduation from Wesleyan, 1915

Folder

Letters to WNR on his 80th birthday, 1925

Box

Folder

1-7

Letters to son E. L. Rice, 1896-1927

Folder

Transcripts of diaries and letters, 1861-1862

Box

Folder

Transcripts of diaries and letters, 1862-1863

Folder

Transcripts of diaries and letters, 1864

Folder

Transcripts of diaries and letters, 1864-1865

Folder

Transcripts of writings on Phi Nu Theta

Correspondence to WNR

These letters contain important information and opinions on trustee matters, campus politics, selection of presidents, alumni affairs, coeducation, student discipline, and faculty recruitment. Most of the correspondents were Wesleyan alumni, and almost all wrote fewer than ten letters. Most wrote only one or two. The correspondents who wrote ten or more letters are: W. O. Atwater, J. Beech, J. Cunnings, L. Magee, J. Mudge, F. M. North, S. H. Olin, H. L. Osborn, and B. P. Raymond.

Box

Abbott, J. E., 1872

Albro, A. B., 1905

Anderson, W. H., 1888

Allison, D., 1873

Andrews, E. G., 1869, 1897-1903

Armstrong, A. C., 1904-1911

Atwater, C. W., 1922

Atwater, W. O., 1872-1891, undated

Bacheller, A. L., undated

Bagnall, W. R., 1891

Bailey, M. A., 1920

Barnhart, J. H., 1893-1895

Beattys, F. D., 1909

Beattys, H. H., 1894

Beattys, F. D., 1891

Beech, J., 1902-1927, undated

Berry, W. F., 1888-1904

Bisbee, R. E., 1881-1904

Bowdish, W. W., 1869

Brodhead, G., undated

Brundage, W. M., 1890

Buckley, J. M., 1897

Burke, J. C., 1883-1884

Burnes, H. E., 1894

Burnett, W. A., 1865-1866

Chadbourne, G. S., 1886

Chanter, W. G., 1919

Chase, A. F., 1881-1883

Chase, John L., 1894

Chattaway, S. M., 1881

Clark, J. C., 1886

Clarke, F. W., 1870

Coffin, S. V., 1889

Conklin, E. G., 1922

Cooper, R. W., 1909

Cramer, N. L., 1875

Crawford, J., 1915

Crawford, M. B., 1877-1888

Crittenden, A. R., 1903

Crowell, L., 1884-1889

Crowell, S. F., 1912

Cunnings, J., 1840

Curtice, S. O., 1897

Dallinger, L., 1886

Davenport, F. M., 1897-1915

Davis, C. E., 1882, 1903

Davis, C. H., 1905-1909

Davis, H. L., 1904

Davis, W. B., 1909

Dennis, A. P., 1897

Develin, J. A., undated

Dickinson, J., 1879

Downey, D., 1903-1916

Dutcher, G. M., 1922

Eckfeldt, T. H., 1886

Edgerton, F. D., 1890

Eggleston, A. C., 1876

Eustis, J. E., 1876

Farrand, Max, 1904

Faulkner, J. A., 1897

Faulks, J. B., 1889-1902

Fearon, R. N., 1869

Fisk, H. F., 1865-1873

Foss, C. D., 1878-1907

Foye, W. G., 1925

Furber, D. B., 1877-1884

Garrison, S., 1895

Gilbert, L., 1884

Gill, B., 1890, 1904

Gilman, B. A., 1882, 1902

Godard, G. S., 1910

Goode, G. B., 1872-1896, undated

Gordy, J. P., 1886-1903

Gowdy, J., 1897

Graham, J. C., 1893-1907

Graves, A. S., 1865

Guss, R. W., 1903

Haley, J. F., 1878

Hall, G. A., 1873

Hall, Mary, 1890

Harriman, D. G., 1874

Harriman, H. I., 1920

Harris, A. W., 1910

Haven, E. O., 1872

Haven, G., 1874

Hewitt, J. W., 1908

Hoagland, M. L., 1866, 1899

Hibbard, R. G., 1876

Hotchkiss, A., 1892

Howland, C. P., 1890

Hoyt, F. S., 1879-1890

Hubbard, C. D., 1874-1888

Hubbard, W. P., 1870-1908

Hunt, A. S., 1887-1894

Hutchison, H. C., 1891

Hyde, A. B. 1872-1882

Ingraham, H. C. M., 1874-1909

James, W. J., 1891-1898

Johnston, A. K., 1869-1880

Johnston, J., 1876

Johnston, Mrs. J., 1866

Johnston, M. M., 1874

Johnston, W. A., 1903

Judd, O., 1871-1883

Judkin, C. O., undated

Kelley, W. V., 1903-1927

Kent, S. W., 1874

Knapp, M. A., 1886-1905

Kynett, A. G., 1879

Landon, T. H., 1885-1902

Larkin, G. R., 1923

Leavenworth, C., 1900

Lindsay, T. B., 1876

Lippit, C., 1864

Littlefield, C., 1914

Loper, S. W., 1890-1898

Loveland, A. E., 1897

Lyon, Asa, 1876

Box

MacMullen, W., 1897

Magee, L., 1885

Mains, G. P., 1878-1904

Mallalieu, W. F., 1870, 1903

Mann, A., 1895

Mansfield, John H., 1869

Mansfield, Joseph H., undated

Manship, W. S., 1911

Marcy, C. D., 1915

Marcy, O., 1866

Marsh, T. P., 1879

McConaughy, J. L., 1927

McCormick, C. W., 1891-1892

Merrill, E. T., 1886-1891

Millard, C. W., 1903

Monroe, H. K., 1903-1907

Morse, J. L., 1879

Mudge, J., 1870-1915

Munson, J. O., 1885

Neumann, G. B., 1923-1925

Newhall, F. N., 1881, undated

Newton, C. L., 1927

Newton, H. G., 1903

Newton, L., undated

Newton, W. M., 1916

Nicols, H., 1894

Nicolson, F., 1910

Niles, W., 1870

North, C. J., 1882-1898

North, C. R., 1872

North, E., 1914

North, F. M., 1872

Norton, L. L., 1900

Olin, S. H., 1871-1925, undated

Opdyke, L. A., 1890-1904

Osborn, H. L., 1879-1915

Osborne, W. F., 1876-1882

Parker, F. H., 1898,1914

Parker, R. C., 1908

Pease, C., 1899

Peck, E. J., undated

Pettee, J., undated

Phillips, W., 1865

Pickard, H., 1889

Platt, S. H., undated

Plimpton, G. L., 1899-1900

Pullman, J., 1877-1899, undated

Raymond, B. P., 1888-1909

Rand, J. C., 1870-1881, undated

Reynolds, F., 1874

Reynolds, G. G., 1906-1927

Rice, W. M., 1889-1903

Rich, H. L., 1890

Richard, E. M., 1904

Richard, W. A., 1903

Richards, T., 1917

Roe, A. S., 1876

Rosa, E. B., 1887-1890

Round, G. C., 1900, 1915

Rust, R. S., 1883

Sanborn, J. E., 1887

Sanford, A. B., 1884

Sanford, E. B., 1869-1926

Scofield, W. E., 1909-1910

Scudder, M. L., 1874

Shanklin, W. A., 1908-1912

Sharpe, B. F., 1887

Shonk, G. W., 1899

Shute, W. G., 1914

Sleeper, J., undated

Smiley, C. W., 1882

Smith, A. L., 1923

Smith, E. M., undated

Smith, F. H., 1907

Smith, O., 1888

Smith, S. K., 1885, 1903

Smith, W. B., 1910

Smith, W. W., 1890

Starkes, H. A., 1894

Steele, D., 1882-1911

Steele, G., 1886

Stiles, S. M., 1897

Strout, E. C., 1914

Sutherland, A. E., 1918

Sutton, H. C., 1904

Taft, M. L., 1883

Taylor, S. N., 1921

Thorndike, E. L., 1913, undated

Tillett, W. F., 1908

Tilton, J. L., 1894, 1907

Tinkler, C. P., 1889

Trafton, G. H., 1903

Underhill, A. S., 1898-1903

Upham, F. B., 1899-1903

VanBenschoten, J. C., 1884-1885

Van Dusen, W. W., 1891

Van Vleck, E. B, 1911, 1925

Van Vleck, J. M., 1877-1912

Waldo, C. A., 1890

Warren, H. W., 1879

Warren, H. M., 1880

Warren, W. F., 1915

Welch, H., 1897-1925, undated

Westgate, G. L., 1870-1880, undated

Westgate, L. G., 1893-1907, undated

Whedon, D. A., 1874-1879, undated

Whedon, D. D., 1866-1877

Whedon, J. S., 1869, undated

White, H. S., 1905

White, L., 1895

Whitney, D. D., 1886

Whitney, H. C., 1885

Williams, H. C., 1886

Wing, J. E., 1915

Wood, T. B., 1891-1908

Woods, W. C., undated

Wood, J. R., 1877

Woodruff, W. E., 1887-1888

Yager, G., 1911

Yard, J. M., 1927

Series 2. Teaching and Education, 1869-1928

The Teaching and Education series includes record books, lecture notes, examination questions, and tributes and memorials. The record books document student grades for the courses taught by Rice. His lecture notes cover subjects including botony, geology, mineralogy and crystallography, zoology, and "science and religion." The examination questions include those used by Rice in his own teaching, as well as entrance examination questions for Wesleyan University and other New England colleges and universities. The tributes and memorials to Rice, as well as obituaries, offer information about Rice's teaching and scholarly career. Also included in this series is a hand-drawn sketch of Rice made by Mrs. Calvin Sears Harrington.

Box

Folder

1-7

Class record books, 1869-1918

These 7 folders contain 32 class record books.

Box

Folder

Class record books, 1869-1918

This folder contains 4 class record books.

Lecture notes, 1879-1918

Folder

2-4

Botany, 1879-1882 and undated

Folder

Classification of minerals, undated

Folder

6-7

Crystallography, 1887-1893 and undated

Folder

8-9

Crystallography and Optical Mineralogy, 1884-1885 and undated

Folder

10-13

Descriptive Mineralogy, 1885-1899 and undated

Folder

14-18

Geology, 1881-1899

Box

Folder

1-3

Geology, 1899-1918

Folder

Geology - Bibliographical references

Folder

Historical Geology, 1894

Folder

6-7

Optical Mineralogy, 1887-1894

Folder

8-9

Physiology, 1881-1884

Folder

Science and Religion, 1896-1898

Folder

Vertebrata, undated

Folder

12-14

Zoology, 1880-1885 and undated

Folder

Miscellaneous lecture and laboratory notes

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