On the Origins of Rice: the Travels of Edgar Odell Lovett
Just over 100 years ago, in the summer of 1908, Edgar Odell Lovett began a journey to "search among the universities of the two hemispheres for the educational and architectural ideas to be incorporated in the new university to be planned in Houston." The university to which Lovett alluded would come to be known as the Rice Institute, renamed the William Marsh Rice University in 1960. Lovett, then head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton University, was selected by the Rice Board of Trustees to lead the new institute. Assisted by his wife, Mary, and his secretary, F. Carrington Weems, Lovett planned to circumnavigate the world and draw on the knowledge of universities from different international backgrounds. During the trip, Lovett recorded his trip in two blank bound volumes that he brought with him, with carbon-copy pages so he could keep a copy and send the original to the trustees back in Houston, who anxiously awaited his return.
In addition, Lovett wrote detailed letters to Emanuel Raphael, secretary of the Rice Board of Trustees, further detailing his experiences at universities across the world. These two documents are the main sources from which Rice historian John Boles, author of University Builder: Edgar Odell Lovett and the Founding of the Rice Institute, derives his information about Lovett's trip.
July 24, 1908 - Lovett, Mary and Weems leave Montreal aboard the Empress of Ireland, a small steamer owned by the Canadian Pacific Line.
Aug. 31, 1908 - Lovett meets with Woodrow Wilson, at that time President of Princeton University and his former employer, who was vacationing with his family at their English Lake Country retreat in Grasmere; Wilson notes that Lovett is too absorbed in his journey to notice the beauty of the valley that day.
Oct. 15, 1908- Lovett departs for Scandinavia. Before he leaves, he mails the first set of books back to Houston, intended for use at the Rice Institute.
Oct. 30, 1908- Lovett, with the aid of local friends, arrives at Stockholm to meet with the King of Norway and tour the University of Stockholm; after observing the programs at Stockholm, Lovett becomes convinced that, in addition to science, a university should develop programs for "jurisprudence, civil law, letters and art."
Nov. 4, 1908 - While in Stockholm, Lovett receives a letter from Raphael stating that he should end his trip in early January and return to Houston, before visiting Japan, in order to develop the institute; Lovett replies that too much time, energy and money had been invested in the trip, and that continuing onward is the only way to properly complete his task.
Nov. 17, 1908 - Wilson has his secretary write a letter of introduction for Lovett to use at his meetings around the world.
Nov. 25, 1908 - The Rice Board of Trustees sends Lovett their approval and support in continuing his journey, despite their original concerns.
Dec. 7, 1908 - Lovett spends two days at the old university city of G"ttingen, meeting with mathematician Felix Klein; Klein's balance of technical and liberal learning impress Lovett, and will appear in his eventual plans for Rice.
Dec. 16, 1908 - Spending only one day in Leipzig, where he received his doctorate in mathematics from the city's university, Lovett spreads word of the new institute; soon after, Lovett arrives in Munich, where he tours the Technical High School of Munich, and observes the attention given not only to practical, but also theoretical, skills, which Lovett will later incorporate into the Rice Institute's engineering program.
Dec. 21, 1908 - Lovett writes to Raphael that the university with which he has been most impressed so far is G"ttingen, because it balances traits of both a university and a technical institute, despite Germany's rigid educational system.
Jan. 7, 1909 - Leaving Mary in Paris, Lovett and Weems travel through Brussels to London where they meet with representatives from Cambridge, Oxford and the Imperial College of Science; from these universities, Lovett gains insight about leadership and administration for the new institute, as well as a recognition for uncommon individual merit; it is here that Lovett receives inspiration for adopting the residential college system.
Jan. 18-26, 1909 - Lovett and Weems travel by railroad through Spain, visiting universities at Burgos and Madrid; shortly thereafter, they venture to the Technical High School and Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, and to the university at Seville. Worried about his status with the board in Houston, Lovett writes to his wife of his impatience but remains hopeful that his effort will be worthwhile.
Jan. 29, 1909 - After visiting several landmarks, including the "Mosque for Grenada" and the Rock of Gibraltar, Lovett and Weems depart for Italy via steamer; Lovett writes Raphael a letter in which he summarizes the previous month's findings, noting that the Iberian Peninsula's climate resembles that of Texas, and provided a number of interesting architectural innovations he had noted.
Feb. 1-3, 1909 - Lovett and Weems board the SS Corvania for Genoa and immediately head for Rome; upon reaching land, Lovett is reunited with his wife, and they spend the next few days visiting the University of Rome and the National Library. In a letter to Raphael, Lovett expresses his desire for buildings with architectural unity without uniformity, a combination of classic and renaissance architecture.
Feb. 12, 1909 - The group spends three days in Athens, interviewing faculty at the University of Athens, the École Polytechnique and the American Classical School; Lovett was particularly fond of the architecture at Greek universities.
March 10-22, 1909 - Lovett and company board the Trans-Siberian Express, the longest railroad in the world, for the lengthiest and least-productive stretch of their journey, remaining on the train for nearly two weeks.
March 25 - April 1, 1909 - Lovett and the others reach Tokyo, where they meet with professors and administrators from Tokyo University, the College of Science, Japan Women's University, Keigo University and Waseda University; Lovett is impressed by the application of Western educational practices, but receives little inspiration for the Rice Institute.
April 7-23, 1909 - Lovett and company leave for Honolulu on the SS Mongolia and spend the night there; they leave for San Francisco the following day. Upon arriving at San Francisco, Mary takes a train to Kentucky to reunite with her children and parents.
April 24 - May 6, 1909 - Lovett and Weems continue to inspect universities, including Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley; in letters to his wife, Lovett reveals he is finally ready to build the new university.
May 7, 1909 - Lovett and Weems return to Houston, having completed their trip around the world in search of inspiration for the new institute.
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