Rhodes House is a building of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
History
The will of Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) created scholarships that became known as Rhodes Scholarships, administered by the Rhodes Trust.
Construction of Rhodes House began in 1926 after the Rhodes Trust purchased the two-acre plot from Wadham College the previous year. The mansion was designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker and modelled on the Cape Dutch farmhouse design and traditional English Country mansions. This is reflected in the large beams, trans-domed windows and its Tetra-style portico. The square rubble walls were designed to be consistent with the Western European 17th century architecture of the Oxford University campus. Other features include the open-well staircase constructed from oak, featuring shaped balusters and carved eagle finials. Construction was completed in 1928 and the building and its library were handed over to Oxford University.
Rhodes House was commissioned by the Rhodes Trust as a memorial to Cecil Rhodes, to act as a centre for research for the "British Empire and Commonwealth, of African and the United States of America", and to be the headquarters of the Rhodes Scholarship system and Rhodes Trust.Sir Herbert Baker, described as "Cecil Rhodes' own architect", was the sole-architect of Rhodes House. Architectural sculpture was provided by Charles Wheeler, who also worked on other inter-war colonial buildings including: India House, South Africa House and the Neuve Chapelle Indian Memorial. Rhodes House features a series of public rooms included a library, reading room, lecture hall and seminar rooms, a hall in which the Rhodes Scholars hold their annual dinner and the residence for the Rhodes Trust Oxford Secretary or Warden.
During 1931, Albert Einstein delivered a series of three lectures at Rhodes House. Edmund Bowen, a chemistry don at the university, saved the blackboard used in the second lecture (on 16 May). Einstein's Blackboard, now an iconic object, can still be seen at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, formally presented by Sir Francis Wylie, the Warden of Rhodes House at the time.
Rhodes House Library
When Rhodes House was completed all the material relating to the British Empire and U.S. were transferred from the Bodleian Library. Also known as the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth & African Studies at Rhodes House. In 1990 the library held more than 330,000 books and the archives relating to US and other former colonies and dominions of the British Empire. The Library was a key research centre in the UK.
In 2014 the Library moved to the Weston Library. The Library is now known as the Commonwealth and African Studies Collections.
Portraits at Rhodes House
Rhodes House houses a significant collection of paintings and photographic portraits and busts, including of:
Queen Elizabeth II
Cecil Rhodes, the Founder of the Rhodes Scholarships
John McCall MacBain, philanthropist
Zambian human rights activist Lucy Banda-Sichone; her portrait, unveiled in 2015, was the first of a woman Rhodes Scholar ever displayed in Rhodes House.
Human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Dr Menaka Guruswamy.
Former US President Bill Clinton
Former US President Ronald Reagan
Philosopher and first African-American Rhodes Scholar Alain Locke
Former Jamaican Prime Minister Norman Manley
Jamaican cultural icon Rex Nettleford
George Robert Parkin, the founding Organizing Secretary of the Rhodes Trust
Busts of early Rhodes Trustees Viscount Milner and Otto Beit
Canadian neuroscientist Wilder Penfield
Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke
President Wasim Sajjad (Pakistan)
Former Prime Minister John Turner (Canada)
Former Prime Minister Dominic Mintoff (Malta)
Neurophysiologist and Nobel Prize winner, Sir John Eccles
Pharmacologist and Nobel Prize winner, Sir Howard Florey
Former United States national security advisor, Susan Rice
Anti-Apartheid activist, Bram Fischer
Former United States health secretary, Sylvia Burwell
Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland
Philanthropist, Chuck Feeney
Economist and Nobel Prize winner, Professor Michael Spence
Former Chairs of the Rhodes Trust, including Sir Kenneth Wheare, Robert Blake, Baron Blake, and Lord Waldegrave of North Hill
Former Wardens of Rhodes House – Sir Francis Wylie, Sir Carleton Allen, Sir Edgar Williams, Dr Robin Fletcher, Sir Anthony Kenny, Dr John Rowett, Sir Colin Lucas, and Professor Donald Markwell.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who joined his name with Cecil Rhodes in the Mandela Rhodes Foundation
The Rhodes Trust
The Rhodes Trust is based at Rhodes House. The Rhodes Trust, established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of Cecil Rhodes, and by subsequent acts of Parliament, is an educational charity whose principal activity is to support scholars selected from the citizens of 14 specified geographic constituencies to study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes Scholarships for up to three years have been awarded annually since 1903. The goals of Cecil Rhodes in creating the Scholarships were to promote civic-minded leadership among young people with (in the words of his 1899 Will) "moral force of character and instincts to lead", and (in the words of a 1901 codicil to his Will) to help "render war impossible" through promoting understanding between the great powers.
In 2002, in partnership with Nelson Mandela, the Rhodes Trust established the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Trust provides the Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C., the Atlantic Philanthropies, and other benefactors. In 2016 the Trust announced a partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies to create an Atlantic Institute, which has offices at Rhodes House. Funding for this project allowed the Trust to expand the total number of Rhodes Scholars and to offer scholarships to students from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, China, and West Africa.
In 2017, the Schmidt Science Fellows programme was launched as a partnership between Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust. The programme was established to facilitate cross-discipline research that could lead to scientific breakthroughs.
The Rhodes Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees, and the Warden of Rhodes House acts as Secretary to the Trust.
Current trustees
The following are trustees:
Dapo Akande (professor of public international law at the University of Oxford)
Mr Andrew Banks (Florida & St Edmund Hall 1976) – Co-Founder, ABRY Partners
Ms Neeti Bhalla (Kenya & Templeton 1998) – Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
Mr Mike Fitzpatrick (Chairman of Pacific Current Group)
Dame Helen Ghosh – Master of Balliol College, Oxford
Mr Don Gogel (New Jersey & Balliol 1971) – Chairman and CEO of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Mr Glen James former partner of Slaughter and May
Dr Tariro Makadzange (Zimbabwe & Balliol 1999) – Director of Biology at Gilead Sciences
Ms Swati Mylavarapu (Florida & Wolfson 2005) – Founder of Incite.org, a values-based investor and co-founder of Arena
Professor Karen O'Brien (Head of Humanities Division and Professor of English Literature)
Kate O'Regan (Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford)
Mr Chris Oechsli – President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies
Dilip Shanghvi – Co-founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals
Judge Karen Stevenson (United States Magistrate and Judge)