Nannie Herndon Rice
A young white woman with straight hair parted center
Nannie Herndon Rice, from the 1905 yearbook of the Mississippi Industrial Institute & College
BornNovember 30, 1886
Starkville, Mississippi
DiedMarch 6, 1963 (aged 76)
Starkville, Mississippi
Occupation(s)Suffragist, writer, librarian
RelativesArthur F. Hopkins (great-grandfather)

Nannie Herndon Rice (November 30, 1886 – March 6, 1963) was an American suffragist, writer, and college librarian, based in Mississippi. She worked at the Mississippi State University library from 1916 to 1957, and was president of the Mississippi Library Association.

Early life and education

Rice was born in Starkville, Mississippi, the daughter of Arthur Hopkins Rice and Frances Mary Smith Rice. Her father was a physician. Her great-grandfather Arthur F. Hopkins was a railroad president and state Supreme Court justice in Alabama.[1] She graduated from the Mississippi Industrial Institute & College in 1905,[2] and held further degrees from Columbia University (1911) and the University of Illinois (1932, in library science).[3]

Career

Rice was an assistant at the Industrial Institute & College after she graduated. She taught English at St. Mary's College in Dallas, Texas. She spent most of her career as a librarian at the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Mississippi State University), from 1916 until her retirement in 1957.[3]

Rice wrote poetry, book reviews, and essays. She was president of the Mississippi Library Association in the 1930s.[4] She was a speaker at the MIssissippi Library Association's general meeting in 1938.[5]

After H. L. Mencken wrote a series of articles describing the American South as a cultural desert, Rice wrote an essay in defense of Mississippi, which Mencken published in The American Mercury, in January 1926. She also wrote book reviews and poetry, published under the names "Anne Coke"[6] and "Ann Cook".[7] After her death, an anthology of her writings was published by her nephew, Frederic F. Mellen.[8]

Rice was elected recording secretary and corresponding secretary of the Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association;[9] her former professor Pauline Van de Graaf Orr was the association's president.[10][11] She was also active in the Mississippi Association for the Preservation of Wild Life, the American Library Association, and the American Association of University Women.[3]

Personal life and legacy

Rice lived most of her life in Meadow Woods, her family's historic plantation home in Oktibbeha County.[12] She died there in 1963, at the age of 76. Her family donated a large collection of her papers to Mississippi State University.[1][13] An oil portrait of Rice was displayed at Mississippi State University's Mitchell Memorial Library.[14] A residence hall at Mississippi State is named Rice Hall in her memory.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ex-Librarian's Valuable Papers Presented to MSU". Clarion-Ledger. 1966-07-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Many Young Women Receive Diplomas". The Birmingham News. 1905-05-30. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 Simmons, Nancy Alexander. "Biographical Sketch of Nannie Herndon Rice, Woman Suffrage Activist and Prominent Librarian". Alexander Street Documents: Part III, Mainstream Suffragists, National American Woman Suffrage Association. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  4. ↑ "Reprints Given Oxford Library". Clarion-Ledger. 1939-02-17. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "State Library Convention in Biloxi Nov. 3-5". Sun Herald. 1938-10-25. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Paul Flowers' Greenhouse". The Commercial Appeal. 1966-03-30. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Smith, Frank (1986-09-28). "Nannie Herndon Rice defended Mississippi in 'Northern' press". Clarion-Ledger. p. 79. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Nannie Rice Anthology". Clarion-Ledger. 1966-05-08. p. 71. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Suffragists Name Officers, Adjourn". Jackson Daily News. 1916-04-06. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Miss Orr Re-Elected". Simpson County News. 1916-04-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Suffrage Notes; Edited by Columbus Equal Suffrage League". The Commercial Dispatch. 1917-04-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Sink, Mattie (2015-07-21). "Meadow Woods Plantation, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and the Nannie Herndon Rice Papers at Mississippi State University Libraries". The Primary Source. 25. doi:10.18785/ps.2501.01. ISSN 1941-8434.
  13. ↑ "Nannie Herndon Rice Family Papers | Manuscripts Division". Mississippi State University Libraries. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  14. ↑ "Nannie Herndon Rice". Clarion-Ledger. 1967-11-26. p. 70. Retrieved 2023-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Nisbet, Emma (2022-02-22). "What's in a name? MSU historians tell the stories behind the names of buildings on campus". The Reflector. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
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