Rhodes House facts for kids
Rhodes House is a special building that is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in the center of Oxford. The building was created to remember Cecil Rhodes. He was a former student of the university and gave a lot of money to it. Rhodes House is a very important historical building, listed as Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
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History of Rhodes House
Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) left money in his will to create special study grants. These are now famous as Rhodes Scholarships. The Rhodes Trust manages these scholarships.
Building Rhodes House started in 1926. This was after the Rhodes Trust bought the land from Wadham College in 1925. The famous architect Sir Herbert Baker designed the building. He based his design on traditional English country homes and Cape Dutch farmhouses. You can see this in the large wooden beams and special windows. The stone walls match the old 17th-century buildings at Oxford University. Inside, there's a grand oak staircase with carved eagle decorations. The building was finished in 1928. Then, it and its library were given to Oxford University.
The Rhodes Trust wanted Rhodes House to be a memorial to Cecil Rhodes. It was meant to be a place for research about the "British Empire and Commonwealth, Africa, and the United States of America." It also became the main office for the Rhodes Scholarship program and the Rhodes Trust.
Sir Herbert Baker was known as "Cecil Rhodes' own architect." He was the only architect for Rhodes House. Charles Wheeler created the sculptures for the building. He also worked on other important buildings from that time. Rhodes House has many public rooms. These include a library, a reading room, a lecture hall, and seminar rooms. There is also a large hall where Rhodes Scholars have their yearly dinner. The person in charge of Rhodes House, called the Warden, also lives there.
In 1931, the famous scientist Albert Einstein gave three lectures at Rhodes House. A chemistry professor, Edmund Bowen, saved the blackboard Einstein used in his second lecture. This blackboard is now a famous item. You can still see Einstein's Blackboard at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford.
The Rhodes House Library
When Rhodes House was completed, all the books and papers about the British Empire and the U.S. were moved there. They came from the Bodleian Library. This new library was also known as the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth & African Studies at Rhodes House. By 1990, the library had over 330,000 books. It also held many old documents about the USA and other former parts of the British Empire. This library was a very important research center in the UK.
In 2014, the library moved to the Weston Library. It is now called the Commonwealth and African Studies Collections.
Important Portraits at Rhodes House
Rhodes House has a large collection of paintings, photos, and sculptures of important people. These include:
- Queen Elizabeth II
- Cecil Rhodes, who started the Rhodes Scholarships
- Nelson Mandela, a former President of South Africa
- Bill Clinton, a former US President
- Ronald Reagan, another former US President
- Lucy Banda-Sichone, a human rights activist from Zambia. Her portrait was the first of a woman Rhodes Scholar shown in Rhodes House.
- Alain Locke, a philosopher and the first African-American Rhodes Scholar
- Norman Manley, a former Prime Minister of Jamaica
- Bob Hawke, a former Prime Minister of Australia
- Susan Rice, a former United States national security advisor
- Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Rhodes Trust
The Rhodes Trust is based at Rhodes House. It was set up in 1902 by Cecil Rhodes' will. The Rhodes Trust is a charity that helps students. Its main job is to support scholars chosen from 14 different parts of the world. These students get to study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes Scholarships have been given out every year since 1903. They usually last for up to three years.
Cecil Rhodes created the scholarships for a few reasons. He wanted to help young people become good leaders. He looked for students with "moral force of character and instincts to lead." He also hoped the scholarships would help "render war impossible." This meant he wanted to promote understanding between powerful countries.
In 2002, the Rhodes Trust worked with Nelson Mandela to create the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Trust also partners with other groups and people to fund the scholarships. In 2016, the Trust announced a partnership to create an Atlantic Institute. This institute has offices at Rhodes House. This project helped the Trust offer more scholarships. It also allowed students from new places like Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, China, and West Africa to get scholarships.
In 2017, the Schmidt Science Fellows program started. This was a partnership between Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust. The program helps scientists do research across different subjects. This can lead to big scientific discoveries.
A Board of Trustees manages the Rhodes Trust. The Warden of Rhodes House also acts as the Secretary for the Trust.
Leaders of the Rhodes Trust
Here are some of the people who have led the Rhodes Trust over the years:
- Earl of Rosebery (1902–1917)
- Viscount Milner (1917–1925)
- Sir Otto Beit (1925–1930)
- Rt Hon. L. S. Amery (1933–1955)
- Sir Kenneth Wheare (1962–1969)
- Lord Blake (1983–1987)
- Sir John Baring (1987–1999)
- Lord Waldegrave of North Hill (2002–2011)
- Sir John Hood (2011–Present)
Wardens of Rhodes House
The Warden is the person in charge of Rhodes House. Here are some of the past Wardens:
- Sir Francis Wylie (1903–1931)
- Professor Sir Carleton Allen (1931–1952)
- Brigadier Sir Edgar Williams (1952–1980)
- Sir Anthony Kenny (1989–1999)
- Sir Colin Lucas (2004–2009)
- Charles R. Conn (2013–2018)
- Dr Elizabeth Kiss (August 2018–Present)
