Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4597
RUTH JOHNSON PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Ruth Johnson (fl. 1893-1950s), 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.
Online Catalog Terms:
American Commission to Negotiate Peace.
Baptists--Clergy--History--20th century.
Brown, Southard.
Cardenas (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Courtship--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Davidson College--Students--Social life and customs--20th
century.
Dumas, Walter A., d. 1952.
Elon College (N.C.)--Students--Social life and customs--20th
century.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--20th century.
Harrell, William, d. 1949.
Johnson, Baird.
Johnson, Ruth, fl. 1893-1950s.
Moody Bible Institute--History.
Neighbour, Charles.
Raleigh (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
Riverdale Christian Church (Dayton, Ohio).
Soldiers--United States--Correspondence--World War, 1914-1918.
Soldiers--Untied States--Correspondence--World War, 1939-1945.
State Book Store (Raleigh, N.C.).
United States Military Academy--Faculty--History--20th
century.
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces.
United States. Army--Military life--World War, 1914-1918.
United States. Army--Military life--World War, 1939-1945.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Social
life and customs--20th century.
Women--Church work--History--20th century.
Women college students--North Carolina--Social life and
customs--20th century.
World War, 1914-1918--Peace.
Size: About 600 items (2.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Purchased from Doug Maddox of Raleigh, N.C., in
December 1991 (Acc. 91170).
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1908-1954 and undated. 540 items.
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
2-4 1912
5-8 1913
9-13 1914
14-17 1915
18-20 1916
21 1917
22 1918-1919
23 1920
24 1921
25 1922
26 1923
27 1924-1925
28 1926
29 1927
30 1928
31 1930-1939
32 1940-1941
33 1942
34 1943-1944
35 1945-1949
36 1950-1954
37 Undated
Series 2. Other Materials
1910-1970. 50 items.
Folder 38 Clippings, ca. 1926-1970, apparently collected by
Ruth Johnson. While many subjects are treated,
there is a preponderance of clippings on religious
themes and on World War II events. About 25
items.
Folders 39-40 Miscellaneous, including programs of events,
especially church music performances, ca. 1910-
1927; Ruth's grade reports from Elon, 1911-1915;
notes, including a brief diary with entries
sparsely documenting social activities in 1914;
and other items. About 25 items.
Series 3. Pictures
Undated. 13 items.
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.
P-4597/Folder 1 Photographs.
SF-P-4597/1 Tintype.
Shelf List
Series 1. Correspondence
Box 1 1908-1913 (folders 1-8)
Box 2 1914-March 1915 (folders 9-15)
Box 3 April 1915-1917 (folders 16-21)
Box 4 1918-1927 (folders 22-29)
Box 5 1928-1954 and undated (folders 30-37)
Series 2. Other Materials (folders 38-40)
Items separated:
P-4597/Folder 1
SF-P-4597/1