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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 2.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 600 items) |
| Abstract | Ruth Johnson, whose family lived in Cardenas and other communities in southern Wake County, N.C., attended Elon College, 1910- 1916; taught school in Cardenas; attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1923; was a church worker at the Riverdale Christian Church (Congregational-Christian) in Dayton, Ohio, 1926-1928; and operated the State Book Store in Raleigh in the 1940s and 1950s. Chiefly correspondence of Ruth Johnson and other members of her family of Raleigh and Cardenas, N.C. Many letters are from Ruth's would-be suitors, all of whom she rejected in the end. At Elon college, 1910- 1916, she received letters from her family and from William Harrell, a student at the University of North Carolina, who described campus events and student life in Chapel Hill. They corresponded until his death in 1949. In late 1913, Charles E. Neighbour, a student at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and later a Baptist minister, began writing to Ruth about love and religion. In 1914, Ruth began corresponding with Walter A. Dumas, then a student at Davidson College. This relationship endured through Dumas's army career--his service with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and the American Commission to Negotiate Peace after the war; his tenure, beginning in 1927, as instructor at the United States Military Academy; and other duties in World War II--until his death in 1952. Dumas's letters are quite detailed and descriptive, especially those written during the world wars. There is scant information about Ruth's work at the Moody Bible Institute, the Riverdale Christian Church or the State Book Store. Beginning in 1941, Ruth received letters from some-time writer Southard Brown of New York. In 1942-1944, there are many letters from Ruth's brother Baird, who reported to his sister and parents on life in various army training camps around the country. Also included are a few clippings collected by Ruth, programs, grade reports, a brief diary of 1914 social engagements, and a few family pictures. |
| Creator | Johnson, Ruth, fl. 1893-1950s. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Ruth Johnson, whose family lived in Cardenas and other communities in southern Wake County, N.C., attended Elon College, 1910- 1916; taught school in Cardenas; attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1923; was a church worker at the Riverdale Christian Church (Congregational-Christian) in Dayton, Ohio, 1926-1928; and operated the State Book Store in Raleigh in the 1940s and 1950s.
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Scope and Content
Chiefly correspondence of Ruth Johnson and other members of her family of Raleigh and Cardenas, N.C. Many letters are from Ruth's would-be suitors, all of whom she rejected in the end. At Elon college, 1910- 1916, she received letters from her family and from William Harrell, a student at the University of North Carolina, who described campus events and student life in Chapel Hill. They corresponded until his death in 1949. In late 1913, Charles E. Neighbour, a student at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and later a Baptist minister, began writing to Ruth about love and religion. In 1914, Ruth began corresponding with Walter A. Dumas, then a student at Davidson College. This relationship endured through Dumas's army career--his service with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and the American Commission to Negotiate Peace after the war; his tenure, beginning in 1927, as instructor at the United States Military Academy; and other duties in World War II--until his death in 1952. Dumas's letters are quite detailed and descriptive, especially those written during the world wars. There is scant information about Ruth's work at the Moody Bible Institute, the Riverdale Christian Church or the State Book Store. Beginning in 1941, Ruth received letters from some-time writer Southard Brown of New York. In 1942-1944, there are many letters from Ruth's brother Baird, who reported to his sister and parents on life in various army training camps around the country. Also included are a few clippings collected by Ruth, programs, grade reports, a brief diary of 1914 social engagements, and a few family pictures.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1908-1954 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly correspondence of Ruth Johnson and other members of her family. Many letters are from Ruth's would-be suitors, all of whom she rejected in the end.
From 1910 to 1916, Ruth was at Elon College. Many early letters are to Ruth from her mother and father in Cardenas, N.C. Her mother's letters tend to be about family activities and offer Ruth advice on her studies and other matters. Her father, K. B. Johnson, who was a manufacturer of dressed lumber, wrote about finances and the logistics involved in arranging for his daughter's travel to and from home and various religious gatherings. Also included are letters from various young relatives--brothers, sisters, cousins--who were in the throes of learning to write.
Letters from young men begin around 1912 with William Harrell, a student at the University of North Carolina. Harrell, whose stay in Chapel Hill coincided with Ruth's time at Elon, routinely described campus events and student life at UNC. From time to time, Ruth and Harrell appear to have met at social functions, even when, as a 24 February 1913 letter from her mother attests, Ruth had to forge her own permit to leave school in order to see him. Although her mother characterized Harrell as "not fit for a decent lady," Ruth continued to correspond with him until his death in 1949.
In late 1913, Charles E. Neighbour, a student at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, and B. Howard Wicksel, a New York lawyer, began writing to Ruth. Both became long-term correspondents, with Charles continuing his Bible-referenced courtship until around 1916, when he was a senior pastor at a Baptist church in Augusta, Ga. Wicksel's letters are few after 1917, when he wrote, without elaboration, that differing religious views doomed his romantic aspirations towards Ruth.
In 1914, Ruth began corresponding with Walter A. Dumas, a native of Fort Worth, Tex., who was then a student at Davidson College. This relationship endured through Dumas's army career--his service with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and the American Commission to Negotiate Peace after the war; his tenure, beginning in 1927, as instructor at the United States Military Academy; and other duties in World War II--until his death in 1952, by which time Ruth had become good friends with his wife and daughter. Dumas's letters tend to be quite detailed and descriptive, especially those he wrote during the world wars. In 1918, Ruth began correspondence with Hubert W. Collins, another World War I soldier who wound up making a career of the army.
Dumas was apparently the most serious of Ruth's suitors. Ruth, however, either rejected proposals of marriage from some of these young men or successfully dodged the question from others. Scattered references in letters show that, after her graduation from Elon in 1916, Ruth returned to Cardenas, where she appears to have taught English in a local school, and that, in 1923, she attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, returning to Cardenas in 1924. Letters show that, in 1926, Ruth made a short tour of Europe, after which she moved to Dayton, Ohio, where she served as Director of Young Peoples' Work and Church Music at the Riverdale Christian Church. There is not much detail about her trip or about the Riverdale Christian Church. By 1928, she had returned to North Carolina, where, at some point, she ran the State Book Store in Raleigh. There is no information about her bookstore career.
In the 1930s, there are a few family letters. Beginning in 1941, Ruth received many cranky, complaining letters from Southard Brown of New York, a sometime writer, editor, and salesperson. In 1942-1944, there are many letters from Ruth's brother Baird, who reported to his sister and parents on life in various army training camps around the country. Family letters continue through 1954 and include many letters of sympathy on the death of Ruth's father in 1943.
| Folder 1 |
1908-1911 |
Folder 2-4
Folder 2Folder 3Folder 4 |
1912 |
Folder 5-8
Folder 5Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8 |
1913 |
Folder 9-13
Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13 |
1914 |
Folder 14-17
Folder 14Folder 15Folder 16Folder 17 |
1915 |
Folder 18-20
Folder 18Folder 19Folder 20 |
1916 |
| Folder 21 |
1917 |
| Folder 22 |
1918-1919 |
| Folder 23 |
1920 |
| Folder 24 |
1921 |
| Folder 25 |
1922 |
| Folder 26 |
1923 |
| Folder 27 |
1924-1925 |
| Folder 28 |
1926 |
| Folder 29 |
1927 |
| Folder 30 |
1928 |
| Folder 31 |
1930-1939 |
| Folder 32 |
1940-1941 |
| Folder 33 |
1942 |
| Folder 34 |
1943-1944 |
| Folder 35 |
1945-1949 |
| Folder 36 |
1950-1954 |
| Folder 37 |
Undated |
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Series 2. Other Materials, 1910-1970.
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Series 3. Pictures, Undated.
Twelve photographs and one tintype with images probably of members of the Johnson and related families. All of the images are undated, and only a few are identified.
| Image Folder P-4597/Folder 1 |
Photographs. |
| Special Format Image SF-P-4597/1 |
Tintype. |
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