Downton Abbey social club enjoy a final tea

For the past few seasons, a group of USI employees from various areas across campus have joined together to get to know one another and discuss a common interest: the Crawley family. The Crawleys are the aristocratic English family and central characters of the hit PBS series, "Downton Abbey." Mona Meyer, government documents technical services librarian, and Phil Orr, distance learning librarian, enjoyed their lunchtime conversations about the show so much that they decided to extend the invitation to others on campus who watched. 

Friendships were forged through discussions of the plots and a deeper understanding of early 20th century English history. Meyer, whose curiosity was often peaked during depictions of unfamiliar English customs, would research and share her findings with the group. The show, which closely followed history, gave the group insight not only to customs and costumes, but to major historical events such as the sinking of the Titanic, the Great War and the influenza epidemic, as well as the strong separation of individuals by social class depicted in the show.

To go along with the time period, Jennifer Greene, reference/archives librarian, brought a display of hats from the Rice Library Archive's Beardsley, Montgomery, Gordon Clothing Collection, which would have been in fashion during the era. Fashion boards and movie ad drawing boards drawn by artist Helen Wallace during the 1920's also helped set the mood for the final tea and farewell to the show.

The group discussed the finale and reflected on the bond they have formed with their USI colleagues. "I've gotten to meet a lot of people in other offices and buildings that I wouldn't have met before or had the opportunity to meet," said Pam Doerter, career coordinator in Career Services and Internships. Orr says in addition to hearing others' interpretations of the show he'll also miss the "camaraderie we've had with people across campus." While the group may have bid one another adieu for now, they will keep their eyes open for the next addicting PBS Masterpiece Theatre show and the tea kettle handy.