This photo from 1952 shows four generations of the family in front of the family's Rice Hotel in downtown Phoenix: from left, Doris Saunders, Mattie Titus, Ann Saunders as a baby, and Thelma Rice Evans.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
This image depicts the former Rice Hotel in the same spot on Jefferson Street where Chase Field stands today.
(Independent Newsmedia illustration/Erik Maurer)
Thelma Evans in the Rice hotel diner, 1952.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
Using mapping tools, the city of Phoenix’s planning and development department pinpointed that the Rice Hotel was located actually on the Chase Field grounds of today, noted by the red box.
(Illustration provided by city of Phoenix planning and development)
Duke Ellington's signature (seventh line down, left page) stands out on this 1949 register from the Rice Hotel.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
Hughie Henry (H.H.) Rice, seen in this undated photo, opened the Rice Hotel in downtown Phoenix in 1919.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
The Valley Metro light rail platform at Washington/Central Ave features an art installation of photos from Phoenix history, including (at left) a picture of Doris Saunders and H.B. Daniels in front of the former Rice Hotel. Tucson artist Stephen Farley's porcelain enamel panels depict scenes of people living and working in Downtown Phoenix throughout history. Ann Saunders believes the photo used was taken around 1952 or 1953. H.B. Daniels was one of the first two Blacks to ever win nominations for membership in the Arizona House of Representations in 1950, along with Carl Sims, Sr.
(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)
This photo from May 1981 shows how far back the Rice Hotel extended. The back corner of the Rice Hotel's main building on Jefferson Street is seen toward the upper left of the photo.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
The Rice Hotel’s property would have occupied part of the front lawn area along Chase Field’s north plaza near where fans enter through Gate K.
(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)
This family photo from 1954 shows, from left, Thelma Evans; her daughter Doris Saunders; Doris' young son Vincent Ellsworth Saunders III; and Doris' daughter, Ann Saunders. They are in front of the family's house on Jefferson Street, adjacent to the Rice Hotel.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
This photo from October 1927 shows Doris Saunders as a young child with unnamed hotel guests taken in front of the Rice Hotel on Jefferson Street. The car belonged to Hughie Rice.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
At left, Thelma Evans in the Rice Hotel lobby in 1971 is sitting at Hughie Rice’s original desk. At right, that same desk is in the home today of Hughie’s great-granddaughter, Ann Saunders, in Jackson, Mississippi.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
This photo from May 1981 shows a courtyard at the back end of the Rice Hotel. In the hotel's earliest days, this is where horse troughs and a hitching post were placed.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
An undated look at the Rice Hotel, which also shows May’s Café, the hotel’s front door, Hughie Rice’s on-site Realtor office, an NAACP credit union (white building, second from right), and the family’s home at right.
(Courtesy of the Saunders family)
Thelma Evans with grandbaby Ann Camille Saunders in the Rice Hotel diner in this family photo from 1952.
(Courtesy the Saunders family)
Fans arrive at Chase Field in Phoenix for Opening Day back on April 4, 2016. The 2025 season’s Opening Day is Thursday at Chase Field against the Cubs.
(AP Photo/Matt York)
