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Marcella Perry Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2014-011

This collection contains materials related to Marcella Perry's work as a banker and politician between 1945 and 1985. The contents are broken up into two series: News, Events, and Correspondence; and Photos, Scanned Documents, and Scrapbooks. The sequencing is chronological and maintains the original structure created by Marcella and her family as closely as possible.

Dates

  • 1945-1989
  • Majority of material found in 1970-1985

Creator

Language of Materials

English, Norwegian

Conditions Governing Access:

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use:

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

5.00 linear feet

93.1 Megabytes

Biographical Information:

Marcella Ellen (née Donovan) Perry was born to James and Ellen Donovan in the Houston Heights in 1908. Her father, James, was the city attorney for the Heights prior to Houston's annexing of the city in 1918. In 1950, Marcella was appointed to the board of directors of Reagan State Bank in Houston, but prior to that, she was a noted dancer. In 1922, she graduated from Heights High School and debuted in New York at Greenwich Village Follies. Marcella married Glenn A. Perry in 1930 and established a dancing studio in Houston where she taught various forms of dance to children and young adults.

In 1973, Marcella was appointed by Houston city council to serve as the city's first female commissioner of the Port of Houston Authority. In that same year, Marcella was president of Heights Savings Association; board chairman of First Pasadena State Bank, and Almeda-Genoa Bank; director of Reagan State Bank. She also served on the board of regents for Texas Woman's University and was politically active for much of her life. Marcella was also an active member of the American Bank Women's Association and the American Revolution Bi-Centennial Commission for Texas. In 1999, Marcella passed away from natural causes.

Technical Requirements:

Digital archival materials can be accessed in the Special Collections Reading Room. Contact curator Vince Lee (velee@uh.edu) for more information.

Title
Guide to the Marcella Perry Papers
Author
Julia Taylor
Date
2015-09-01
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750