Ruth Foster Collection

TITLE: Ruth Foster Collection

DATE RANGE:   1920s-1970s

CALL NUMBER: Y-MS4

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  5 linear feet (10 boxes)

PROVENANCE:  Unknown. 

COPYRIGHT: The Yuma County Library District owns the copyright to this collection 

RESTRICTIONS: This collection is unrestricted.   

CREDIT LINE: Ruth Foster CollectionY-MS4, Yuma County Library District

PROCESSED BY:  Linda Whitaker, November 2013 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:    

“In the eyes of the world, I am probably called a loner because my family wants no part of living in the hot spot of Yuma…”  So writes Ruth Foster in a brief biographical statement written after a 33-year career teaching English at Yuma High School. She was born September 3, 1903 in Denver, Colorado – the eldest child of Isaiah W. Foster and Cora E. Mosteller.  She graduated from Colorado State Teachers’ College in 1927 and came to Arizona in 1928 where she taught in the Duncan and Marana high schools before coming to Yuma. Ruth received a master’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1937. She was a highly regarded educator who maintained strong connections to leaders in education state and nationwide.  One of her hobbies was writing which is reflected in her prolific correspondence.

Ruth was active in numerous professional organizations and civic clubs which included Arizona Education Association, American Association of University Women, Delta Kappa Gamma, Yuma Business and Professional Women’s Club, and Yuma Chapter of the United Nations Association. She was a life-long learner whose post retirement interests included politics, community service, and public policy issues such as housing for the elderly, women’s rights and health insurance. She was a feminist long before the word became a cliché. Ruth ran unsuccessfully for the Arizona House of Representatives in 1970 and attended the International Women’s Year conference in Mexico City in 1971which she described as a “priceless experience.”  In 1974, twenty organizations came together for “Ruth Foster Day” honoring her for many years of community service. She died November 4, 1975 in Yuma. Her ashes are buried in Crawford, Colorado. 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:   

This collection is remarkable for documenting the professional career and the community service life of an unmarried woman that begins in the late 1920s and ends with the women’s rights movement. In a diary entry, Ruth Foster mentions cleaning out her early files to make room for more recent works in progress. This may explain why the bulk of her correspondence dates from the 1960s despite lifelong friendships and close ties to her brother and sister-in-law.  Because Ruth served in many professional and community leadership roles, the organizational work, community activism, and issue-based research are richly detailed. Original order is unknown.

This collection is arranged in four series and chronologically within. Series I: Personal (biographical material); Series II: Correspondence (general, personal, professional) Series III:  Organizations; Series IV: Writings.     

CONTAINER LIST: 

Box Folder Title Dates
1 1 Personal:  Biographical (autobiographical statements, tributes, educational background, certificates, awards; includes photo) 1968-1975
  2 Personal:  Board of Education Contracts (Duncan and Marana) 1928-1934
  3 Personal:  Board of Education Contracts (Yuma Union High School) 1937-1968
  4 Personal:  Candidacy for Arizona House of Representatives (District 5)   1970
  5 Personal:  Classroom Materials (English Literature) 1920s-1960s
  6 Personal:  Classroom Materials (local history) n.d.
  7 Personal:  Classroom Materials (poetry collected by Ruth Foster) n.d.
  8 Personal:  Classroom Materials (various) 1950s-1960s
  9 Personal:  Memorabilia (University of Arizona; war rations) 1930s-1940s
  10 Personal: Yuma Union High School Publications

1923, 1937-1938,

1940, 1948

2 1 Correspondence:  General 1968-1969
  2 Correspondence:  General 1970-1971
  3 Correspondence:  General 1972-1973
  4 Correspondence:  General 1974
  5 Correspondence:  General 1975
  6 Correspondence:  Personal 1962-1966
  7 Correspondence:  Personal 1967-1968
  8 Correspondence:  Personal 1969
  9 Correspondence:  Personal 1970
3 1 Correspondence:  Personal 1971
  2 Correspondence:  Personal 1972
  3 Correspondence:  Personal 1973
  4 Correspondence:  Personal 1974-1975
  5 Correspondence:  Professional - Education (includes news clippings, programs, profiles of educators) 1950s-1970s
  6 Correspondence:  Professional – Education 1965-1969
  7 Correspondence:  Professional – Education 1970-1975
  8 Correspondence:  Professional – Teachers’ Retirement (annual reports, pamphlets, brochures)  1 of 3 1947-1956
4 1 Correspondence:  Professional – Teachers’ Retirement  2 of 3 1952-1961
  2 Correspondence:  Professional – Teachers’ Retirement (includes research notes on other state retirement plans)  3 of 3 1968-1975
  3 Organizations:  American Association of University Women ( federal and state status of women, labor statistics, reports)  1 of 2 1939-1971
  4 Organizations:  American Association of University Women ( federal and state status of women, labor statistics, reports)  2 of 2 1939-1971
  5 Organizations:  American Association of University Women (bylaws, handbooks for branches) 1946-1972
  6 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women (general correspondence)

1962-1966
5 1 Organizations:  American Association of University Women (mental health) 1964-1965
  2 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women  (newsletters, news clippings)

1964-1973
  3 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women (Legislative Program Kit)

1965-1966
  4 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women (general correspondence)

1967
  5 Organizations:  American Association of University Women (reports, newsletters) 1968-1969
  6 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women (general correspondence)

1969-1972
  7 Organizations:  American Association of University Women  (issues with the media) 1969-1974
  8 Organizations:  American Association of University Women (Power Quotient Bag) 1970
  9 Organizations:  American Association of University Women  (Journal) 1972-1974
6 1 Organizations:  American Association of

University Women (general correspondence)

1973-1975
  2 Organizations:  Arizona Women’s Political Caucus 1974-1975
  3 Organizations:  Business and Professional

Women’s Club

1950-1975
  4 Organizations:  Common Cause 1971-1974
  5 Organizations:  Democratic Women’s Club of Yuma 1971-1973
  6 Organizations:  Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge-Yuma Chapter 1972
  7 Organizations:  League of Women Voters (Equal Rights Amendment) 1948-1975
  8 Organizations:  League of Women Voters (United Nations) 1965-1972
  9 Organizations:  League of Women Voters (welfare reform) 1968-1972
  10 Organizations:  League of Women Voters (pollution) 1971-1972
  11 Organizations:  League of Women Voters (brochures, correspondence, newsletters) 1971-1975
  12  Organizations:  League of Women Voters (campaign spending) 1972-1974
7 1 Organizations:  Methodist Church (histories, directories, brochures) 1940s-1970s
  2 Organizations:  Methodist Church (social concerns kit) 1964-1971
  3 Organizations:  Methodist Church (social concerns minutes, correspondence) 1964-1975
  4 Organizations:  Methodist Church  (residence for elderly) 1970-1975
  5 Organizations:  United Nations Association Yuma Branch 1964-1969
  6 Organizations:  United Nations Association Yuma Branch 1970-1971
  7 Organizations:  United Nations Association Yuma Branch 1972
  8 Organizations:  United Nations Association Yuma Branch 1973-1975
8 1 Organizations:  University of Arizona Extension Service (newsletters) 1971-1975
  2 Organizations:  University of Arizona Extension

Service  (Women’s Involvement Program)

1973-1974
  3 Organizations:  Yuma County Council on Aging 1973-1975
  4 Organizations:  Yuma Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse 1972-1973
  5 Writings:   Book Reviews 1930s-1960s
  6 Writings:   Commentary on Correspondence n.d.
  7 Writings:   Essays (abut Yuma) n.d.
  8 Writings:   Essays (about Arizona) n.d.
  9 Writings:   Teachers’ Retirement (speech) n.d.
  10 Writings:   “The Strife for Peace” n.d.
  11 Writings:   “Becoming Acquainted with Dictionaries” n.d.
  12 Writings:   “Lank Fogg, Mechanic, a Juvenile Short Story” n.d.
  13 Writings:  “Social and Business

Correspondence”

n.d.
  14 Writings:  “The Place of Edith Wharton in American Fiction” 1935
  15 Writings:  “American Newspapers and Magazines” 1963
  16 Writings:  “The Story of the American Newspaper” n.d.
  17 Writings:  Diary of Trip to Mexico 1971
  18 Writings:  Grammar and Composition for the Seventh Grade (thesis for Master of Arts, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, University of Arizona) 1936

 

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