Ruth Suckow and Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) collection
Scope and Contents
The Ruth Suckow and Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) collection consists of materials created and used by the RSMA as well as a smaller number of materials created or kept by writer Ruth Suckow. An example of materials possibly from Suckow's personal library are the copies of The American Mercury from the 1920s. This collection has been donated to SC&UA over a number of years, largely by members of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association.
A good portion of the RSMA materials consist of copies of articles / pieces written by either Ruth Suckow or about Suckow and her work. Some include handwritten notes / analyses. There are also files concerned with the RSMA's operations, such as notes, correspondence, meeting agendas / minutes, financial information, and more. Also included are records detailing the RSMA's involvement in the Cedar Falls Authors Festival, such as photographs, correspondence, and clippings.
Of note is a fragment of an unfinished novel, written in pencil by Ruth Suckow. It is titled "A Little Girls' World." Although this was not finished, her short story "Eminence" may have been derived from this fragment. Included with the fragment are two copies of a typewritten letter written by Suckow's husband, Ferner Nuhn, to an unnamed editor at Midwest magazine, offering the fragment for publication.
The collection's control file contains detailed inventories for some of the materials, with additional information about the listed components, written by Cherie Dargan. Please see SC&UA staff for assistance in accessing this file.
Dates
- Creation: 1962 - 2024
Creator
- Suckow, Ruth, 1892-1960 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions. Materials are open for research.
Rights
The Ruth Suckow Memorial Association holds the rights to Ruth Suckow's work. Please contact the Association for permission to use.
General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies
Many items housed in the Rod Library Special Collections & University Archives, including unpublished images and manuscripts, may be protected by copyright, publication rights, trademarks, or model release rights which the library does not own and for which the library cannot grant permission or licensing. Materials currently under copyright are usually still available for research and limited reproduction under Fair Use laws. However, it is the sole responsibility of the patron to determine whether or not their use of a given material falls within Fair Use guidelines and to obtain permission for said use from the rightful copyright owner.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code § 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
Ruth Suckow was born in 1892 to William and Caroline Suckow, in Hawarden, Iowa. She attended Grinnell College for a year before attending the University of Denver, form which she graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1917, and her master's degree in 1918, both in English.
Suckow focused her literary career on writing about Iowa and its towns, communities, and farms in the early 1900s. She was ranked one of the top ten American fiction writers in the 1920s by critic and publisher H.L. Mencken. She was the author of Country People, The Folks, and The Kramer Girls, among other books and articles.
Suckow married artist and critic Ferner Nuhn, with whom she traveled the United States before moving to Cedar Falls, Iowa. Following her death in 1960, Nuhn established the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association in her honor and to promote her writings for future generations.
The Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) was established in 1962 and became a legal nonprofit organization on May 19, 1966. It seeks to preserve and promote writing and historical items related to Ruth Suckow’s life and work; identify and preserve physical sites related to Suckow’s career; and to showcase the importance of Suckow’s work for Iowa and the world. The RSMA publishes the annual Ruth Suckow Newsletter and established the Ruth Suckow Park in Earlville, Iowa, at Suckow’s former home.
Extent
1.13 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Arrangement
Original order and folder titles were maintained, with the exception of the RSMA newsletters which were combined for ease of use and access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The 2019 acquisition was donated to SC&UA by Cherie Dargan, webmaster and board member of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association. Dargan received much of this material from Ruth Suckow's niece, Barbara Camamo.
Processing Information
Collection initially processed and finding aid created by Library Associate Dave Hoing, March 2017; Updated by Hoing in October 2017 and Archival Processor Tessa Wakefield, April 2022. The 2019 and 2022 additions to the collection were processed and the finding aid updated by Tessa Waekfield in March 2023 / November 2024.
- Title
- Ruth Suckow Papers
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script