Ruth Lillian Jones Manuscript Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 1

Staff Only

Content Description

The Ruth Lillian Jones Manuscript Collection includes correspondence, documents, photographs, slides, pamphlets, publications, news clippings and awards stemming from her time as Dean of Women at East Stroudsburg University. In addition, the collection also includes personal photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, clothing, directories, and telephone books.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1900-1990

Biographical / Historical

As East Stroudsburg University’s longtime Dean of Women, Ruth Lillian Jones played a key role in the university's evolution throughout the twentieth century. Born in 1902 in Illinois, Jones attended the Western Illinois State Normal School to be trained as a teacher, graduating in 1921. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Jones taught at many schools across Illinois, often involved in student’s theater and drama groups. Arriving at East Stroudsburg State Teacher’s College in 1934, Dean Jones served as the college’s Dean of Women for over three decades, retiring in 1968. Throughout her tenure, Dean Jones was heavily involved in the academic, social, and extracurricular lives of students, leaving a heavy imprint on the campus’ culture. During her career at East Stroudsburg and throughout her retirement, she shared a home in town with ESTC professor Josephine B. Kerns, with whom she had a strong personal connection.

Throughout her long career at ESTC, Dean Jones vigilantly worked to uphold many of the school’s strict social and residential policies. During this era, men and women at the college were required to follow a rigid set of rules laid out in their Student Handbooks, regulating when, where, and how they were permitted to interact. Responding to the changing social norms and student pressure, over her tenure, Dean Jones relaxed some of these policies.

Extent

4.75 Linear Feet (4 full size boxes, 1 half box, 1 small cassette box )

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into seven series, each one organized in alphabetical order by folder title. Series I: East Stroudsburg University Documents consists of materials stemming from her time as ESU’s Dean of Women, including correspondence, awards, alumni meeting minutes, telephone book, news clippings, orientation booklets, etiquette and manners guides, notes on her sabbatical, women’s educators' organizations materials, Pennsylvania college pamphlets, and miscellaneous publications, scrapbooks, and reading recommendations.

Series II: Personal Documents includes personal correspondence, baby birth notices, church directories, commencement program, news clippings, obituaries, and a copy of Stroudsburg in the Poconos, 1815-1965. Additionally, this series contains Josephine B. Kerns’ correspondence, news clippings, her obituary, and letters of condolences sent to Ruth after Josephine’s death in 1986.

Series III: East Stroudsburg University Photographs comprises of photographs, negatives, slides, and film proof sheets of life at East Stroudsburg University. Topics covered include historic photographs of athletics, student life, faculty, buildings, and aerial shots of campus.

Series IV: Personal Photographs, Scrapbooks and Documents contains her collection of personal photographs of friends and family, Christmas photographs, students during her years as a teacher in Illinois, scrapbooks detailing her time as a student at Western Illinois State Normal School, various documents, publications, and programs, and Josephine B. Kerns collection of photographs.

Series V: Oversized Documents and Photographs comprises of rolled and oversized photographs depicting East Stroudsburg University, in addition to class and faculty photographs from schools she taught at in Illinois. This series also includes oversized news clippings and her E.S.S.C. Great Teacher Award.

Series VI: Clothing consists of her cap and gown, in addition to a green evening gown.

Series VII: Film Slides consists of her personal film slides.