Ruth Ryder St. John papers

Record Group

Identifier: UA-10.3.123

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a great deal of correspondence, including many to and from family and friends while Ruth Ryder was in the American Red Cross. Other subject materials cover the topics of the June 10, 1945 alumni reunion in Manila, the establishment of the Edward H. Ryder and Georgia R. Ryder Scholarship Fund, and the East Lansing High School Class of 1931 Fifty Year Reunion. The scrapbook in this collection is dedicated to the Manila reunion and contains lists of attendants and correspondence received by Ryder on the occasion. There is also a large series of photographs for this collection that reflect the materials and include pictures of the Ryder and St. John families, as well as American Red Cross activities overseas.

Dates

Creation: 1925 - 1997

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biography

Born to Edward and Georgia (Smyth) Ryder, Ruth Ryder St. John was a 1936 graduate of Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) with a B.A. in Public School Music. Her father, Edward, retired as a professor of History and Political Science at M.S.C. in 1938. She was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota and Pi Lambda Theta. Ruth also held a teaching certificate for the state of Illinois. During the Second World War, Ruth served in the American Red Cross, working in New Guinea, the Philippines, Australia and other Pacific nations. She was also instrumental in coordinating an M.S.C. alumni reunion in Manila in 1945. In 1956 she married Don St. John.

Ruth died on September 11, 2000.