Ada Rice papers

Identity elements

Reference code

US US kmk U2011.29

Level of description

Collection

Title

Ada Rice papers

Date(s)

  • 1896-1948 (Creation)

Extent

0.10 Linear Feet., 1.00 Box

Name of creator

(1869-1953)

Biographical history

Ada Rice was born in Breckenridge, Missouri, on 21 December 1869.  Her family moved to Clifton, Kansas, in 1878.  She attended Baker University for one year and taught school near Washington, Kansas, for two years. She entered Kansas State Agricultural College (KSAC) in 1889, then left in 1890 to teach high school in her father's place at Clifton.  She then was the assistant principal there in 1891.  Rice returned to KSAC in 1893 and graduated in 1895.  She taught in the grade school at Randolph, Kansas, from 1896 to 1899, and then was an assistant in the Preparatory Department of KSAC from 1899 to 1903.  She received her Life Teacher's Certificate from Kansas in 1900, and became a founding member of the local chapter of the American College Quill Club that same year.  Rice became an assistant in English at KSAC in 1902, earning the title of instructor in English the following year.  She attended the University of Chicago during the summer of 1902 and Harvard University during the summer of 1905.  She spent the summer of 1909 touring Europe.  Rice received her Master's degree from KSAC in 1912.  She was Assistant Principal of the School of Agriculture from 1913 to 1918, and alumni editor of the Industrialist from 1918 to 1920. She spent a sabbatical at Kings College of London University in 1926-1927, and was granted professorship at KSAC in 1927.  Rice was elected president of the KSAC chapter of Phi Kappa Phi in 1932, toured Asia during the summer of 1937, and retired in 1946.  She died on 9 March 1953.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Ada Rice papers include photocopied typescript and manuscript short stories of fiction and nonfiction, as well as digitized images from her life, between 1896 and 1948.  They are from the early twentieth century and cover subjects like children's literature, Filipino life and culture, genealogy, George Washington's first cabinet, gold mining, John Quincy Adams, King's College (now Columbia University), London (England) life and culture, and orphan trains.  The photographs include her portraits, her Manhattan home, the 1896 Mt. Pleasant (Kansas) school and students she taught, her international travels, and an American College Quill Club program.

This collection is housed with other small collections - Tex Winter collection (U2011.20) and Office of Military Affairs (U2011.16).

System of arrangement

The photocopied material is together in one folder.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

No access restriction: All materials are open for research.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

It received accession number U2011.29. Materials from U2011.29 were in the possession of the donor, and the originals still are with her.  According to an email from her on 5/9/2012, "The papers and photos were given to me by James Rice of Manhattan, KS, Ada's nephew.  He and his brothers and sisters were the children of Ada's brother, Carl, who lived most of his life in the Philippines.  Jim and his siblings lived with Ada for some time in the post-World War II period, after resettling in Manhattan from Manila.  Jim, several of his siblings, and his mother were still living with Ada when she passed away in 1953.  (Carl died in 1950.)  Jim took possession of these items in 1999 when Dorothy Rice Castillo (Ada's niece and my grandmother) died.  I believe Dorothy's brother Eugene had them before her.  Eugene was Ada's primary heir."

Immediate source of acquisition

Acqusition Source: Deborah Hause
Acqusition Method: Donation.
Acqusition Date: 20110712

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Acquired because it documents some of the life of an early faculty member, and it gives examples of her research and creative efforts.

Accruals

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Related descriptions

Specialized notes

  • Citation: [Item title], [item date], Ada Rice papers and photographs, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.

Alternative identifier(s)

Archon Collection ID

22

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Sources used

Sources outside the collection used in preparing the biographical note include Vertical Files, the 1914 Alumni Record, 1895 yearbook, and reunion books from 1920, 1940, and 1945.

Archivist's note

Finding Aid Author: Cliff Hight
Processing Info: Cliff Hight, university archivist, processed the collection in August 2011.
Publication Date: 2012-05-09

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