The Victor Rice papers contain correspondence and printed items related to education in the state of New York in the mid-19th century and to the Spencerian system of penmanship, which Rice helped develop.
The Correspondence series (over 500 items) is made up of personal and professional letters to Victor Rice from family members and various other correspondents. His father William sent family news from Clymer, New York, and also discussed financial and legal matters. Other letters pertain largely to education and to Rice's position as superintendent for public instruction for the state of New York. Some concern the Spencerian penmanship system, which Rice developed with Platt Rogers Spencer. State and national political issues are occasionally mentioned, and Rice received at least one letter from a soldier during the Civil War. Contributors include Horace Greeley, Platt Rogers Spencer, and James Theodore Holly, and the collection has few outgoing letters by Victor Rice. Items from the 1870s are personal letters between members of the Rice family.
The Printed Items series contains the following 5 items:
- The Dignity of Teaching. An Address to the Graduating Class of the State Normal School, January 28, 1857, by E. P. Rogers (1857, 24 pages)
- Views of P. R. Spencer, V. M. Rice and J. W. Lusk on Penmanship as a Profession, with an Inquiry as to the Proper Distinction Between the Office of an Author and Editor, by Warren P. Spencer (December 12, 1866, 8 pages)
- An Autobiography of the Man with an "Assumed Name," to which Is Added the Story of the Book Entitled the "Spencerian Key", by Warren P. Spencer (1866)
- Asa Packer. A Memorial Address, Delivered by Request of the Faculty of the Lehigh University, on University Day, June 19, 1879, by Henry Coppée (8 pages)
- Spencer Family History and Genealogy, by Robert C. Spencer (1889, 26 pages)
Victor Moreau Rice was born in Chautauqua County, New York, on April 5, 1818, the son of William Rice. After graduating from Allegheny College in 1841, he briefly studied law in Buffalo, New York, before he began teaching in 1843. He became Buffalo's superintendent of schools in 1852, president of the New York State Teachers' Association in 1853, and New York's first superintendent for public instruction in 1854. He also served in the state assembly and collaborated with Platt Rogers Spencer to invent the Spencerian penmanship system. Victor M. Rice died on October 17, 1869.
