The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Totman, Ruth J.

Ruth J. Totman Papers

ca. 1914-1999
6 boxes 3 linear feet
Call no.: FS 097
Depiction of Ruth Totman and Jean Lewis, ca.1935
Ruth Totman and Jean Lewis, ca.1935

Trained as a teacher of physical education at the Sargent School in Boston, Ruth J. Totman enjoyed a career at state normal schools and teachers colleges in New York and Pennsylvania before joining the faculty at Massachusetts State College in 1943, building the program in women’s physical education almost from scratch and culminating in 1958 with the opening of a new Women’s Physical Education Building, which was one of the largest and finest of its kind in the nation. Totman retired at the mandatory age of 70 in 1964, and twenty years later, the women’s PE building was rededicated in her honor. Totman died in November 1989, three days after her 95th birthday.

The Totman Papers are composed mostly of personal materials pertaining to her residence in Amherst, correspondence, and Totman family materials. The sparse material in this collection relating to Totman’s professional career touches lightly on her retirement in 1964 and the dedication of the Ruth J. Totman Physical Education Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Supplementing the documents is a sizeable quantity of photographs and 8mm films, with the former spanning nearly her entire 95 years. The 8mm films, though fragile, provide an interesting, though soundless view into Totman’s activities from the 1940s through the 1960s, including a cross-country trip with Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, women’s Physical Education events at the New Jersey College for Women, and trips to Japan to visit her nephew, Conrad Totman..

Background on Ruth J. Totman

Excerpted from Recollections of Ruth Jane Totman, By Conrad Totman

Ruth Jane Totman was born on the farm of her parents Frederick L. and Jennie (Brower) Totman on November 20, 1894. She was the seventh of ten children, five of them girls, five boys. The farm always loomed large in Ruth’s life, the place to which she returned whenever she could, summer after summer and often for Christmas or other vacation moments. She did so regardless of where her career took her, whether her first job teaching physical education in a public school district in central New York state, or later at Indiana State College in western Pennsylvania, New Jersey College for Women in New Brunswick, or Massachusetts State College (renamed UMass. in 1946) in Amherst.

From early on, it appears, Ruth, the youngest of the girls, the plain, rangy tomboy, had some difficulty getting along with her older sister, Harriet, born 1891. Harriet was the pretty one, the one who went on to a fine schooling at Mt. Holyoke College (class of 1914), while Ruth went to the less elegant Sargent School of Physical Education in Boston. The sisterly tensions lasted the rest of their lives, eased no doubt by Harriet’s distance, since she pursued her career teaching the blind in Cleveland, Ohio, sharing her life with Ann Kessner, a school teacher, until senility brought her to the Amherst Nursing Home and final repose in Pine Grove Cemetery in Conway.

Ruth started school in the fall of 1898. She was only 3 years 9 months old at the time and, as she recalled it, was sent to school because her next older sister Mary had just turned five and was the only child scheduled to enter the first grade that year. Her teacher asked Jennie to send little Ruth, too, to keep Mary company, so the precocious child went, proving herself able to handle the work. After she graduated from high school in 1911 she was asked to teach at the Broomshire School, which was needing a teacher at the time. For two years she taught grades 1-6, earning money for her own schooling, and then went on to Sargent School in Boston.

The years of Ruth’s youth were a time when pundits were expressing alarm that city life was undermining the good health of the young, and the alarm intensified during World War I as American military leaders began preparing their flaccid army for war in Europe. The concern led to mandatory physical education in many school systems across the country, and that development gave Ruth ample encouragement to become a teacher of physical education. In 1916, after three years at Sargent, she took a job teaching it at several public schools in the vicinity of Cortland, New York. In later years she spoke fondly of the three years she traveled from school to school in her horse and buggy, or sleigh in winter, staying at local houses on her circuit.

At the age of 25 she served for a year as instructor in physical education at the State Normal School in Cortland, NY, and she spent the following year in the employ of the New York State Department of education, supervising instruction in physical education in a larger rural region. In 1921 she moved to eastern Pennsylvania to teach at the State Teachers College in East Stroudsburg, working there for six years and completing her own undergraduate study in Physical Education at New Jersey College for Women (NJC) in 1927. Degree in hand, she moved to New Castle, in far western Pennsylvania, to supervise physical education in the public schools there. She then took a position teaching at Indiana State Teachers College in Indiana, Pennsylvania (some 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh) from 1928 to 1936.

There, in the depths of the Great Depression, she met another young, newly appointed teacher, Gertrude Minnie (Jean) Lewis (1896-1996). They agreed to share an apartment and ended up lifelong friends. While teaching at Indiana State, Ruth also continued her own schooling, earning an MS degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

About 1936, Ruth took a job on the faculty of physical education at NJC, where she stayed until 1943. There she established a number of friendships that were to last for decades, including Mary Raven, who was a dietitian and head of the NJC cafeteria, Virginia Spencer and Ruth Stevenson, colleagues on the physical education staff, Winnie Schonlieber, evidently a physical education major there who later followed Ruth to teach in Amherst, and Helen Curtis.

By 1942 the United States was embroiled in World War II, and Ruth, still at NJC, took on new tasks. Perhaps her war effort that family and friends remember best was “Peaceful Acres” a project of the summer of 1942. It anticipated the “American Women’s Land Army” program that the federal government launched in early 1943. Along a narrow country road was a fine old but vacant house and farm-turned-estate that had formerly been occupied by a Mrs. McAllister. Ruth arranged to rent the estate, dubbing it “Peaceful Acres,” and invited a number of her NJC students and a colleague or two to join her there. They planted a large vegetable garden, raised a field of cucumbers for market, and assisted farmers in the vicinity in their summer work. With so many hired hands off to war, the farmers, including my father, were grateful for the help.

In 1943 she was invited to head the Department of Women’s Physical Education at Massachusetts State College. She moved to Amherst, where she found living space at Mt. Pleasant Inn, just south of the campus and a brisk walk from her office in the Drill Hall. A year later she found a home on Strong Street, a recently built Cape Cod-style house and one-acre lot just beyond Wildwood Cemetery over the hill east of Butterfield dormitory. She took out a $2,000 mortgage at the Conway Savings Bank in July 1944, purchased the house for $5,500, and in September 1945, three weeks after the end of World War II, paid off the mortgage when Jean Lewis joined her as legal co-owner.

During the summer of 1945 Ruth was joined in the Strong Street house by her friend from NJC, Helen Curtis. Helen, having received a Master’s degree from Columbia in 1942, took a post as Director of Students at the Douglass Campus. Three years later she was invited to join Mass. State as Dean of Women. As Helen enjoys recalling, she came for a job interview in Amherst with little enthusiasm because a school in Pennsylvania had just offered her what seemed a more attractive position. But when Ruth heard that she was coming for an interview, she promptly cancelled Helen’s hotel reservation at the Lord Jeffrey Inn and invited her to stay at her house while visiting the campus. She also assured Helen that if she took the post, she would be welcome to share Ruth’s house. Perhaps those gestures of welcome made the difference because Helen did accept, and she lived at Strong Street with Ruth until the end of her career nearly three decades later.

Ruth was delighted to be back in Massachusetts. Her work at Mass. State was exciting because with so many young men off to war, the role of women on campus was much larger, and she had a growing program to nurture. Moreover, and more personally, being in Amherst brought her closer to Jean Lewis, who worked at one place or another in New England from 1938 to 1949.

Meanwhile Ruth was contributing to UMass’s accelerating growth and participating actively in the broader profession of Physical Education. Mass. State was renamed University of Massachusetts in 1946, and as the years passed Ruth continued expanding her program to stay abreast of swelling enrollments. Her teacher hiring proceeded successfully, adding a number of faculty members who became stalwarts of the program, including Vickory Hubbard, Maida Riggs, and Marilyn Herscholtz. She also promoted, Maida has informed me, student involvement in physical education by making her Strong Street house the regular meeting place for the Women’s Athletic Association. And in 1958 or thereabouts she oversaw the establishment of her program’s Teacher Education major.

As the decade advanced, Ruth’s career approached its pinnacle. In 1956, the Drill Hall, which housed her program, was destroyed by an electrical fire. Ruth scrambled for temporary housing for staff and courses and then devoted much of two years to designing a grand new building for the program. As soon as these temporary arrangements were made, Ruth plunged into the task of designing permanent quarters for her program, and in 1958 “WoPE,” the new Women’s Physical Education Building opened, one of the largest and finest women’s PE buildings in the nation. It provided the facilities necessary for that program to continue expanding as the university grew by leaps and bounds.

Ruth retired in 1964, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. Soon diverse people were advocating that the new building be named in her honor, and in 1972, just before retiring, Warren McGuirk, Dean of Physical Education, championed the proposal, formally setting the project into motion. Thanks in no small part to the early and continuing efforts of Helen Curtis, technical obstacles and administrative inertia were overcome, and in 1984 it finally came to pass.

Two years after Ruth, Jean, too, retired. In 1968 Jean did move in permanently, and, along with Helen, the three women shared the Strong Street house for several years after that. Then following her retirement in about 1973 Helen accepted a long-standing proposal of marriage from Christopher Cole. The two wed and moved into an apartment in a newly built residential enclave just northeast of the church at the center of North Amherst.

So Ruth and Jean finally were reunited and had a house to themselves, completing the circle begun in Indiana, PA forty five years earlier. In retirement they traveled widely, touring South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. In her last year or two Ruth declined, finally becoming bedridden. But with the loving care of Jean and much help from Helen her final days were reasonably comfortable, and three days after her 95th birthday she breathed her last at home, beloved friends at her side. She is buried in Conway, in Pine Grove Cemetery, along with her parents, sister Harriet, and Ruth’s lifelong friend, Gertrude (Jean) Lewis.

Contents of Collection

The Ruth J. Totman Papers are composed mostly of personal materials with a smattering of professional or administrative documents. Documents pertaining to her residence in Amherst, correspondence, and Totman family materials, all highlight diverse aspects of her personal life. The sparse material in this collection relating to Totman’s professional career touches lightly on her retirement in 1964 and the dedication of the Ruth J. Totman Physical Education Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Supplementing the documents is a sizeable quantity of photographs and 8mm films, with the former spanning nearly her entire 95 years. The 8mm films, though fragile, provide an interesting, though soundless view into Totman’s activities from the 1940s through the 1960s, including a cross-country trip with Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, women’s Physical Education events at the New Jersey College for Women, and trips to Japan to visit her nephew, Conrad Totman.

This collection was donated and organized by Conrad Totman, Ruth Totman’s nephew. Using personal memories and documentary evidence, Conrad gave context to most, if not all, of the materials in these papers. In some instances, he included hand-written notes explaining what would otherwise be unknown information within certain materials. These notes are included in the finding aid with their relevant documents.

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Series Descriptions
1914-1999
36 folders

The separation of series in the Ruth J. Totman Papers is based upon format. Series 1 contains everything except motion picture, audio tape, and photographic print media. The papers in this series are organized by subject and then by alphabetical order. A few comments on the broader subjects within this series: “164 Strong Street” is Ruth Jane Totman’s street address in Amherst. She lived in that house from 1944 until her death in 1989. “Child sponsorship:” Both Totman and Gertrude “Jean” Lewis supported organizations such as the Pearl Buck Foundation, and sponsored several children, mostly from eastern Asia, throughout the years. “Correspondence” is organized by the creator of the letter. Images of most letter authors can also be found in the photographs section of Series 2. “Totman Family” is pretty self-explanatory, but note also Series 4 in the Conrad Totman Papers, MS 447. “Totman Physical Education Building” is a fixture on the University of Massachusetts campus, and was the culmination of Ruth Totman’s work as head of Women’s Physical Education there. “Writings:” Ruth Totman co-wrote, along with Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, a book on children’s education entitled, Teach Us What We Want to Know (see the Gertrude M. Lewis Papers, MS 450, for more). It appears Totman took a stab at writing for the children themselves rather than for their educators, as well as about her recollections of the rise and quick demise of public transportation in Conway, Massachusetts. Neither of these was published.

1897-1985
384 folders

The separation of series in the Ruth J. Totman Papers is based upon format. Series 2 contains audiovisual materials, namely, Audio cassettes, 8mm films, and photographic prints. The cassettes and the films are fairly self-explanatory in the contents list. However, a word on the organization of the photographs: As this collection was donated by Ruth Totman’s nephew, Conrad Totman, most, if not all, of the materials here have been organized and identified by him. All but two groups of photographs have been identified at the item level and are listed under their respective folder location. While the maintenance of original order within the photographs speaks more about Conrad Totman than it does about Ruth Totman, the photographs essentially remain in the order in which they entered into Special Collections. Conrad Totman notes that the photographs were kept by Ruth Totman, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, and Helen Curtis in a jumbled, collective manner, which makes it difficult to determine to whom each photograph actually “belonged.” Absolute determinations have been separated into their respective collections (Lewis at MS450 and Curtis at MS459) while the rest remain here. The item-level identifications, as well as contextual notes, are in Conrad Totman’s words, with the exception of a few tweaks for consistency. The first nine folders of photographs are in chronological groups, the remainder grouped by loose subject. “Ruth Totman’s Photo Album” actually came into Special Collections as an album, but was re-housed for preservation purposes. “Miscellany” is Conrad Totman’s group of unsorted photographs. “Ruth Totman’s Garden:” These are all mostly unidentified (some have explanations on the reverse of prints) and unsorted photographs of Ruth Totman’s pride and joy, the garden in the rear of 164 Strong St. “Unidentified” is just that. Conrad Totman was unable to determine their identity, but these photos remain in the collection. NB: The listing at the item level reflects only the photographs’ order of housing.

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Inventory of Collection
Series 1. Personal and Professional
1914-1999
36 folders
164 Strong Street: Deeds, Mortgages, and Associated Documents
1934-1981
Box 1:1
164 Strong Street: Documents Relating to Sale
1991
Box 1:2
164 Strong Street: Miscellaneous
1966-1996
Box 1:3
164 Strong Street: Taxes and Utilities
1943-1992
Box 1:4
Birth Certificate [Duplicate]
1952
Box 1:5
Child Sponsorship
1973-1989
Box 1:6
Correspondence: Burchard, Elizabeth, with Photographs
1963
Box 1:7
Correspondence: Drew, Raymond
Undated
Box 1:8
Correspondence: Lewis, Gertrude
1946-ca.1949
Box 1:9
Correspondence: Riegel, Helen
1962
Box 1:10
Correspondence: Totman, Barbara
1955-1956
Box 1:11
Correspondence: Totman, Kathleen Junko
1981
Box 1:12
Correspondence: Varley, Leland
1981
Box 1:13
Diary
1962
Box 1:14
Diploma, Sargent School
1916
Box 3:–
Documents Relating to Death
1981-1995
Box 1:15
Douglass Society: Documents
1985
Box 1:16
Funeral Scrapbook
1989
Box 1:17
Newspaper Clippings [Photocopies]
ca.1954-1964
Box 1:18
Retirement Materials
1943-1964 [Bulk 1964]
Box 1:19
Totman Dairy Farm: Newspaper Articles
1978-1980
Box 2:1
Totman Family: Totman, Conrad: Recollections of Ruth Jane Totman
1999
Box 2:2
Totman Family: Totman Family Genealogy to 1940
1940
Box 2:3
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Documents Relating to Death
1982-1984
Box 2:4
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Letters
1914, ca.1940
Box 2:5
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Newspaper Clippings
1933-1959
Box 2:6
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Photographs
Undated
Box 2:7
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Poetry
1950-1957
Box 2:8
Totman Family: Totman, Harriet: Sketches
ca.1914
Box 2:9
Totman Family: Totman, Karen: Women’s Land Army: Ruth Totman, and the “Peaceful Acres Girls” [photocopies]
1988
Box 2:10
Totman Family: Totman, Raymond
1979
Box 2:11
Totman Physical Education Building: Congratulatory Notes and Letters
1984
Box 2:12
Totman Physical Education Building: Newspaper Clippings
1984
Box 2:13
Totman Physical Education Building: University Documents
1972-1984
Box 2:14
Writings: Drafts of Untitled Children’s Books
Undated
Box 2:15
Writings: Conway Street Railway
Undated
Box 2:16
Series 2. Audiovisual
1897-1985
384 folders
8mm Films (20)
1940
Box 4:
8mm Films (19)
1940-1943
Box 5:
8mm Films (16)
1943-ca.1962
Box 6:
Totman Family: Oral History: Ruth Totman
1985
Box 6:
Douglass Society Award
1985
Box 6:
Totman Dairy Farm: Making Milk: A Portrait of the Totman Dairy Farm, National Public Radio
1981
Box 6:
Photographs:
1897-1909
Box 7:1
Ruth Jane Totman (seated) and Mary Totman (later Drew)
ca.1897
Box 7:1
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1909
Box 7:1
Photographs:
ca.1910-1920
Box 7:2
Unidentified baby
ca.1910
Box 7:2
Jennie Brower Totman, mother of Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1915
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1911
Box 7:2
Harriet Totman dressed for her graduation from Mount Holyoke College
ca.1916
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman (on right) with her cousin Catherine Noyes in the front yard of the Totman farm in Conway
ca.1915
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1917
Box 7:2
Postcard Photograph of Chester Totman, Jr., (b.1916)
ca.1920.
Box 7:2

His father, Chester Sr., died in 1920, and Ruth Totman became a guardian of sorts by ca. 1925. Chester, later married and living in Arizona, stayed in touch with Ruth. In the 1940s, or thereabouts, he made a lovely set of dining room furniture and matching book cases. Made of walnut, I believe (CDT, 2003)

Postcard photograph of landscape near Franklin, NY. It was through this scenery that Ruth Totman rode to teach in 1916-1918
ca.1918
Box 7:2
Postcard photograph of landscape near Franklin, NY. It was through this scenery that Ruth Totman rode to teach in 1916-1918
ca.1918
Box 7:2
Postcard Photograph of the Cortland (NY) Normal School burning
ca.1920
Box 7:2
Group of people in Albany, NY. “Group doing rural PE in NY”
ca.1918
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman (right) and friend, Mary Raven
ca.1918
Box 7:2
Mary Raven walking on railroad track
ca 1919
Box 7:2
Harriet Totman (left) and Mary Raven
ca.1919
Box 7:2
Mary Raven (top of stairs?)
ca.1919
Box 7:2
unidentified
ca.1919
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman (second from right) and unknown friends
ca.1918
Box 7:2
Ruth Jane Totman (second from left) and unidentified friends in the South River in Conway
ca.1920
Box 7:2
Photographs
ca.1925-1930
Box 7:3

Ruth Totman was extremely sorry to leave Stroudsberg. Perhaps because of the good friends she made there. Some such as Gretchen Herzog and Caryl Coburn kept in touch years later as did Helen Riegel (CDT Feb 2003)

Helen Riegel
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Helen Riegel
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Helen Riegel
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Helen Riegel
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Helen Riegel
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Edna Hughes Ruth Jane Totman and possibly Edna Faust (l. to r.)
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Edna Hughes (kneeling), Edna Marsh, and Ruth Jane Totman giving moose horns
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Edna Faust, Ruth Jane Totman, and Edna Hughes (l. to r.)
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Edna Hughes
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Caryl Coburn, Gretchen Herzog, and Ruth Jane Totman (l. to r.)
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Edna Hughes (left), Caryl Coburn
ca.1926
Box 7:3
Gretchen Herzog (left), and possibly Caryl Coburn
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Gretchen Herzog
ca.1928
Box 7:3
Peg Croskey
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Larch Croskey (Peg Croskey’s daughter?)
ca.1930
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman entering car
1927 Aug
Box 7:3
Edna Hughes
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Peg Croskey
ca.1926
Box 7:3
Elizabeth Williams Burchard
ca.1927
Box 7:3

Elizabeth William Burchard seems to have met Ruth at New Castle in 1927, perhaps as a colleague at Indiana (PA) State College there. They stayed in contact in later years (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Elizabeth Williams Burchard
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Elizabeth Williams Burchard
ca.1928
Box 7:3
Mary Raven
ca.1928
Box 7:3
Elizabeth Williams Burchard
ca.1930
Box 7:3
Frances Horak Irvin
ca.1926
Box 7:3
E M Sanders
ca.1926
Box 7:3
Photo booklet containing pictures (3) of Frances Horak Irvin, Ruth Jane Totman, and Gertrude Minnie Lewis
ca.1926
Box 7:3

Gertrude Lewis hated the name Gertrude, so friends called her GM, which eventually became Jean (CDT, Feb 2003)

Ruth Jane Totman, playing Softball
ca.1926
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman in Conway
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman at Conway before pine tree that stood in front of the Totman Family Farmhouse. Camera is facing northwest
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman imitating Statue of Student on Princeton Campus
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman imitating Statue of Student on Princeton Campus
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman imitating Statue of Student on Princeton Campus
ca.1925
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman, portrait
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman, portrait
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Gertrude Minnie Lewis (left) and Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Ruth Pender and John
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Ruth Pender
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Ruth Jane Totman (on far left) next to Gregory Ivy. Gertrude Minnie Lewis on far right
ca.1927
Box 7:3
Gregory Ivy and Gertrude Minnie Lewis
ca.1927
Box 7:3

Gregory Ivy was a painter, and perhaps a student at Indiana (PA) State. A painting of his hung in the dining room of 164 Strong St. in Amherst for decades. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Teachers of Roxbury School, Johnstown, PA. (l. to r.)Barbara Hanson, unidentified, Maggie Yoder, Ruth Pender, Gertrude Minnie “Jean” Lewis
ca.1926
Box 7:3

Gertrude M. Lewis taught high school in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in ca. 1926-1928. She also had a position at Indiana (PA) State College, probably near where she and Ruth Totman rented an apartment together. (CDT, Feb 2003)

Photographs:
1931-1939
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1931
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1931
Box 7:4
Mary Raven
ca.1937
Box 7:4
Mary Raven
ca.1937
Box 7:4
Mary Raven with child
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman (right), and unidentified woman
ca.1939
Box 7:4
Gertrude Minnie Lewis (seated) and Ruth Jane Totman
1933 Oct 15
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman (left) and Gertrude Minnie Lewis, sipping syrup at the sugar house on the Totman family farm in Conway
ca.1934
Box 7:4
Harriet Totman on the Totman family farm in Conway
ca.1931
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman in Winter
ca.1934
Box 7:4
Snowy landscape
ca.1934
Box 7:4
Helen Davis, high school Junior year portrait
1931 May
Box 7:4

As the school picture indicates, Helen Davis was in high school in 1931 in Indiana, PA. Perhaps she went to college at nearby Indiana (PA) State College, where Ruth Totman and Gertrude “Jean” Lewis were teaching from 1931-1936. Perhaps Ruth and/or Jean were her teachers. Perhaps she met Ann McClure there. Ann and Helen became a pair and pursued careers, ending up in Florida perhaps by the late 1930s (CDT, Feb 2003)

Helen Davis, in riding gear
1937 Aug
Box 7:4
Helen Davis’ dogs, Cyr and Tommie
1937 Aug
Box 7:4
Helen Davis
ca.1936
Box 7:4
Helen Davis (far left) with unidentified friends on a beach
ca.1939
Box 7:4
Ruth Jane Totman, portrait
ca.1936
Box 7:4
Ann McClure
1938
Box 7:4

Where Ruth Jane Totman met Ann McClure is unclear. Ann and Helen Davis were also friends of Gertrude Minnie Lewis and Harriet Totman. Perhaps they were at New Castle together. Ann and Helen later taught in the Buffalo, NY area, I think (or originated in that region), but they were in Florida as teachers most of their lives, as these snapshots indicate (CDT, Feb 2003)

Ann McClure
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Helen Davis (standing, left), Ann McClure (seated), and an unidentified friend
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Helen Davis (seated, left), Ann McClure (seated, right), and two unidentified friends
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Ann McClure
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Ann McClure
ca.1939
Box 7:4
Helen Davis (right) and friend
ca.1938
Box 7:4
Box 7:4
Photographs:
1940-1949
Box 7:5
Ann McClure
1940 Dec
Box 7:5
Helen Davis
1940 Dec
Box 7:5
Helen Davis
ca.1946
Box 7:5
Ruth Jane Totman (left) and friend
ca.1945
Box 7:5
unidentified person walking along beach
ca.1945
Box 7:5
Ruth Jane Totman (right) and friend
ca.1949
Box 7:5
Ruth Jane Totman (laying on back), and Mary Raven (striped headscarf) with unidentified friends
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Mary Raven (in striped headscarf) with unidentified friends
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Helen Curtis after lobster at the Wiscasset (Maine?) Inn.
ca.1943
Box 7:5

Helen Curtis, long time UMass Dean of Women, lived at the house of Ruth Jane Totman from about 1945 until she married Chris Cole, ca. 1975. She kept close ties to her family, including her niece Rhoda and her family, and her brother Wally and his family near Los Angeles, CA.

She was an enthusiastic picture-taker.

She was at New Jersey College for Women when Ruth Jane Totman was. When Ruth heard that she was interviewing for the UMass job, Ruth invited her to stay at her house while on campus. Helen accepted the offer, later accepted the job, and ended up living with Ruth (CDT, Feb 2003).

Rita Curtis, sister-in-law of Helen Curtis, near pool in Los Angeles
ca.1945
Box 7:5
Rita Curtis, sister-in-law of Helen Curtis, near pool in Los Angeles
ca.1945
Box 7:5
Virginia Spencer (left), and Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1942
Box 7:5

Virginia Spencer and Ruth Jane Totman were together in the phys. ed. program as teachers at New Jersey College for Women (NJC). They also may have shared an apartment. And enjoyed gardening.

Virginia Spencer
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Virginia Spencer (seated), Ruth Jane Totman (behind Spencer), and two unidentified bicyclists
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Chapel at New Jersey College for Women (NJC)
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Farm at New Jersey College for Women?
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Peaceful Acres, back of house
ca.1942
Box 7:5

In the summer of 1942, as a gesture in the war effort, to ease the farm labor shortage and give some of her students a physically demanding summer educational experience, Ruth Jane Totman rented “the McAllister place” on Reeds Bridge Rd., in Conway, MA (Klassen place in 1967). Her students and she raised a garden and helped local farmers get in hay and grow tobacco and other crops. Ruth called the farm she rented “Peaceful Acres” (CDT, Feb 2003)

Peaceful Acres
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Peaceful Acres
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Ruth Jane Totman and child at Peaceful Acres
ca.1942
Box 7:5
Peaceful Acres
ca.1942
Box 7:5
22 — Ruth Koonz
ca.1944
Box 7:5

Ruth Koonz was one of Ruth Jane Totman’s students. She participated in the Peaceful Acres project. She also kept in touch with Ruth through the years. Another student (Cynthia “sis” McIntyre) starred in a Greenfield Recorder Gazette story on the project (CDT, Feb 2003)

Ruth Koonz
ca.1946
Box 7:5
Photo booklet of an archery tournament near Washington DC. Ruth Jane Totman can be seen in the sixth and seventh photographs
ca.1942
Box 7:5

Ruth Jane Totman was a keen archer — taught it to the Totman children in Conway (CDT, Feb 2003)

Christmas photo/card from Moma Patrique
ca.1943
Box 7:5

Moma Patrique was a friend, but I don’t know the connection. Perhaps in the Home Ec. department at NJC (CDT, Feb 2003)

Ann McClure
ca.1940
Box 7:5
Ruth Jane Totman’s Strong St. house and 1938 Buick
ca.1945
Box 7:5
Dick Bergquist,
ca.1940
Box 7:5
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, Sonya Bergquist, Dick Bergquist
ca.1949
Box 7:5
Gertrude “Jean” Lewis (left) and Sonya Bergquist
ca.1949
Box 7:5
Colorized portrait of Helen Davis
ca.1946
Box 7:5
Portrait of Helen Davis
ca.1948
Box 7:5
Photographs:
1950-1959
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman, portrait
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Old Orchard Beach
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in front of 164 Strong St
1964 Dec
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman with Memorial Hall (at UMass)
ca.1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in her garden
1954
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman and Gertrude M. Lewis gardening
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in lawn chair
1956
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in lawn chair
1956
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman mowing the lawn
1957
Box 7:6
Leonta Horrigan on crutches in front of 164 Strong St.
ca.1955
Box 7:6
Leonta Horrigan on crutches in front of 164 Strong St.
ca.1955
Box 7:6
Leonta Horrigan or Audrey Delphendall
ca.1958
Box 7:6
Wedding photo of Ruth Koonz
ca.1953
Box 7:6
Barbara Clifford
ca.1954
Box 7:6

A familiar face (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Indian visitors to Ruth Jane Totman home
1956
Box 7:6

UMass faculty connection if I recall. 1956, so maybe mentioned in CDT letters from Japan? (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Restrictions on access:

Letters from Japan in Conrad D. Totman’s MS 447 are restricted until 2015.

Sister of Gertrude Lewis?
ca.1953
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman on front steps of 164 Strong St.
1952
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Helen Curtis at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Helen Curtis at Strong St.
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Portrait, Helen Curtis
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Conway Farm
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St.
ca.1953
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in her garden
1954
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman in her garden
1954
Box 7:6
Christmas/photo card from Ruth Koonz’ family
ca.1959
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Christmas photo from Cherry
1954
Box 7:6

Student of Ruth, Peaceful Acres girl? (CDT, Feb 2003)

Helen Curtis at Strong St
ca.1950
Box 7:6
Korean vista during Korean War
1951
Box 7:6

In 1951-1952 Ruth Totman’s nephew, Clayton Totman, a Lieutenant Colonel in the 1st Marine Division, I believe, urged Ruth to organize a clothes drive for destitute Koreans in his area of command.

Ruth and others did so, and one day Harry Demers (worked for Ray Totman on the Conway farm — see CDT Letters from Korea {MS 447}) and I drove a big truckload of clothes from Conway and Amherst to the Marine Air Station in Squantum, near Cape Cod. From there it went to Korea.

CDT was a freshman at UMass at the time.

This Snapshot, perhaps taken by Clayton, shows the lower Han River area northwest of Seoul, where the DMZ was established at its western end in 1953. It appears to be northwest of the region shown in the CDT snapshots {MS 447, Series V}. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Ruth Jane Totman, a boy, and Helen Curtis boating in Minnesota
ca.1958
Box 7:6
Helen Davis
ca.1954
Box 7:6
(l to r) Helen Curtis, Wally Curtis (Brother of Helen), Rita Curtis (Wife of Wally), and Ruth Jane Totman at Conway
1955
Box 7:6
(rear, l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, unknown, Helen Davis. (front, l to r) Ann McClure, Gertrude Lewis
1955
Box 7:6

In 1955 Ruth Jane Totman, Gertrude Lewis and Helen Curtis evidently vacationed in Florida, visiting their New Castle, PA friends Helen Davis and Ann McClure (in Miami or near there, I believe they lived). (CDT, Feb. 2003)

(rear, l to r) unknown, Ruth Jane Totman, Helen Davis. (front, l to r) Ann McClure, Gertrude Lewis,
1955
Box 7:6
At picnic table on beach. (l to r) Ann McClure, unknown, Gertrude Lewis, unknown, Helen Curtis, Helen Davis
1955
Box 7:6
In front of Davis-McClure abode?, (l to r) Ann McClure, Gertrude Lewis, Helen Davis
1955
Box 7:6
On beach. (l to r) Helen Davis, Gertrude Lewis, Ann McClure
1955
Box 7:6
Beach
1955
Box 7:6
Davis-McClure abode?
1955
Box 7:6
At picnic table on beach. (l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, unknown, Helen Davis, Helen Curtis
1955
Box 7:6
At picnic table on beach. (l to r) Ann McClure, unknown, Helen Davis, Gertrude Lewis, Helen Curtis
1955
Box 7:6
Helen Davis next to Old Peppersass at Mt. Washington in NH
1955
Box 7:6

This note applies to this and the next ten photographs} Ruth evidently made this trip with Helen Davis. The other elderly lady may be Helen’s mother (I never met her). (CDT, Feb 2003)

On Mt. Washington. Ruth Jane Totman with elderly lady
1955
Box 7:6
Cog Railway, Mt. Washington
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman and elderly lady in front of Old Peppersass [train], Mt Washington
1955
Box 7:6
Helen Davis with elderly lady at summit house of Mt. Washington
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Totman and elderly lady on summit of Mt. Washington
1955
Box 7:6
Fisherman statue, Gloucester, Massachusetts
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman walking toward old house, Salem, Massachusetts
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Totman with elderly lady at grave of William Bradford, Plymouth, Massachusetts,
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman and elderly lady at Plymouth Rock
1955
Box 7:6
Ruth Jane Totman and elderly lady at Daniel Webster’s birthplace
1955
Box 7:6
In front of Conway farm. (l to r) Helen Curtis, Gail Totman (UMass ’60, sister of Conrad), Michiko Totman (UMass ’59), Conrad Totman (UMass ’58), Raymond Totman (father of Conrad, brother of Ruth), Ruth Jane Totman
1958
Box 7:6

In 1958, Conrad Totman departed Conway for graduate study at Harvard, going with wife Michiko in his 1956 Volkswagen. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Ruth Jane Totman with unidentified baby
ca.1959
Box 7:6
Helen Curtis gardening
1955
Box 7:6
Jack and Dell Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1952
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1952
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack and Dell Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1955
Box 7:6
Jack and Dell Harmon
ca.1959
Box 7:6
Jack and Dell Harmon
ca.1959
Box 7:6
Wendell (Dell) Bruce Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Jack Harmon
1954
Box 7:6
Christmas photo card from the Bergquists: Sonya (not pictured), Dick (not pictured), Erica, Carl, Craig, and Andrea
ca.1958
Box 7:6
Photographs:
1960-1969
Box 7:7
Gertrude “Jean” Lewis and Ruth Jane Totman at Strong Street
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Gertrude “Jean” Lewis and Sally and Lee Wilkinson (daughters of T.O. Wilkinson, Prof. of Sociology at UMass and neighbor of Ruth and Jean)
1962
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Poinsettias
1962
Box 7:7
Living Room, Strong St
1962
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman
1964
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman
1964
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman mowing the lawn
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman shoveling snow
1967
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman shoveling snow
1967
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman making marmalade in Strong St. kitchen
1967
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman making marmalade in Strong St. kitchen
1967
Box 7:7
Garden, Strong St
1968
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman and helper building slot house
1968
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman apple picking
1969
Box 7:7
Harriet Totman (left) and Anne Kessner (lifelong partner of Harriet)
1969
Box 7:7
Photograph of Ruth Jane Totman’s retirement painting
1966
Box 7:7
Photograph of birthday poster and basket of greetings
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman (left), her retirement painting and the artist
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman at her retirement party at Strong St. Most others are UMass colleagues; Maida Riggs in chair by left window, T.O. Wilkinson in right rear
1966
Box 7:7
Group with Ruth Jane Totman’s retirement painting. (l to r) Warren McGuirk (UMass Dean of Phys. Ed), painting’s artist, Sally Ogilvie, Ruth Jane Totman, unidentified, unidentified
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman and Warren McGuirk
1966
Box 7:7
Portrait, Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1964
Box 7:7
(l to r) Warren McGuirk, Ruth Jane Totman, unidentified
1960
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman and fellow UMass Phys. Ed. Faculty member Georgia “Gigi” Reid
1960
Box 7:7
Portrait, Ann McClure
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Portrait, Ann McClure
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Portrait, Caryl Coburn
1961
Box 7:7
Christmas/photo, Sally, Clifford, and Lee Wilkinson
ca.1963
Box 7:7
Christmas/photo, Sally and Lee Wilkinson
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman with Phys. Ed. instructors from England at Strong St.
1965
Box 7:7
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, unidentified, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Helen Curtis
ca.1965
Box 7:7
(l to r) Clifford Wilkinson, David Shea (grandnephew of Ruth), and Ruth Jane Totman
1968
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman with Kazuko Tamura, friend of Michiko Totman
1965
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman with unidentified
1967
Box 7:7
(l to r) Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Ruth Jane Totman, Helen Curtis
1967
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman with unidentified
1967
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman with Elizabeth Burchard in Strong St. garden.
1970
Box 7:7
Photograph of Ruth Jane Totman’s retirement painting
ca.1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman (right) in Strong St garden
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman (right) in Strong St. garden
1966
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman (seated) and unidentified
1960
Box 7:7
Susan Gaskill
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Susan Gaskill
ca.1960
Box 7:7
Tree (gift from RJT) in front of Barbara Clifford’s house
ca.1969
Box 7:7
Tree (gift from RJT) in front of Barbara Clifford’s house
ca.1969
Box 7:7
Ruth Jane Totman herding mule into a pen
1968
Box 7:7
Photographs:
1970-1979
Box 7:8
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, and Helen Curtis stand in front of 164 Strong St
1975
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman (left) and Dot Levens walk in the woods
1978
Box 7:8
(l to r) Helen Curtis Cole, Eleanor Clifton, Ruth Jane Totman, and Ruth Bean
1978 Oct 18
Box 7:8
(l to r) Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Ruth Jane Totman, Ruth Bean, Helen Curtis Cole
1978 Oct 18
Box 7:8
Clifford Wilkinson (left) gets doted on by (l to r) Helen Curtis Cole, Ruth Jane Totman, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis
1978
Box 7:8
Gertrude “Jean” Lewis (left) and Ruth Jane Totman on either side of an enormous birch tree
ca.1970
Box 7:8
(l to r) Mary Harmon, Maida Riggs, Helen Curtis, Jack Harmon, Vickory Hubbard, and Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1975
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman (right) and unidentified
1975
Box 7:8
(l to r) Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Ruth Koonz, and Ruth Jane Totman in garden
1972
Box 7:8
(l to r) Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Ruth Koonz, and Ruth Jane Totman in garden
1972
Box 7:8
Elizabeth Williams Burchard
1979
Box 7:8
Clifford Wilkinson
1975
Box 7:8
Clifford Wilkinson
ca.1978
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman in Strong St. backyard
1970
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman in Strong St. backyard
ca.1971
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman
1973
Box 7:8
Unidentified people standing in 164 Strong St. rear yard
1976
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman
1977
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman napping in La-Z-Boy
1976
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman in Conway next to tapped maple trees
1977
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman knitting hats for Indian children in New Mexico
1977
Box 7:8
Hats knitted by Ruth Jane Totman for Indian children in New Mexico
1977
Box 7:8
(l to r) Ferenc Vali, Rose Vali, and Aron Pressman
1975
Box 7:8
Audrey-Renate Delphendahl
1978
Box 7:8
(l to r) Johannes Delphendahl, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, Audrey-Renate Delphendahl, Ruth Jane Totman, Renate Delphendahl
1976
Box 7:8
Vickory Hubbard (left) and unidentified
ca.1975
Box 7:8
The Raymond Totman {Brother of Ruth Jane Totman} Family: (l to r) Gail Totman, Leland Totman, Mildred Totman, Raymond Totman, Conrad Totman, Barbara Totman
1978
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman (left) with Conrad Totman in Conway
1978
Box 7:8
The Conway farmhouse after the Blizzard of ’78
1978
Box 7:8
(rear, l to r) Christopher Cole [husband of Helen Curtis Cole], Gertrude “Jean” Lewis. (front, l to r) Anne Kessner, Harriet Totman, unidentified, unidentified, and Ruth Jane Totman
1976
Box 7:8
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, Helen Curtis, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, and unidentified Japanese visitor
1974
Box 7:8
Helen Curtis Cole
1974
Box 7:8
Sarah (Totman) Shea prepares beans on the back porch of 164 Strong St.
ca.1973
Box 7:8

Sarah (Totman) Shea was Ruth Totman’s older sister. She lived in Northampton. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Wedding Party of Ruth Koonz’ daughter
ca.1979
Box 7:8
Ruth Koonz’ daughter and new husband
ca.1979
Box 7:8
Family of Rhoda ______ (seated, far left), niece of Helen Curtis Cole
ca.1977
Box 7:8
Ruth Jane Totman (with cane) in New Hampshire
ca.1978
Box 7:8
Helen Riegel
1978
Box 7:8
Sally (left) and Lee Wilkinson at Sally’s wedding
1978
Box 7:8
Groom [Sinclair] at Sally Wilkinson’s wedding?
1978
Box 7:8
Edie Wilkinson in blue shirt with other unidentified people
1978
Box 7:8
Mary Harmon
ca.1978
Box 7:8
Mary Harmon
1978
Box 7:8
Jack Harmon
ca.1979
Box 7:8
Lorraine Selmer on her farm
1975
Box 7:8
Lorraine Selmer’s farm
1977
Box 7:8
Lorraine Selmer’s farm
1977
Box 7:8
Lorraine Selmer on her farm
1976
Box 7:8
Photographs:
1980-1984
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman (left) and Dot Levens
1980
Box 7:9
Sally (Wilkinson) Sinclair and her son Cory Duncan
1984
Box 7:9
Sally (Wilkinson) Sinclair and her son Cory Duncan
ca.1983
Box 7:9
Lee Wilkinson with a piece of her pottery
1980
Box 7:9
(l to r) Christopher Cole, Ruth Jane Totman, Edie Wilkinson, T.O. Wilkinson
1984
Box 7:9
A postcard photo of Ruth Jane Totman’s baked goods
1984
Box 7:9
Prim Upton (left), a friend who taught for Ruth, and unidentified
1983
Box 7:9
Prim Upton (left), a friend who taught for Ruth, and unidentified
1983
Box 7:9
Mary Thomson (left) and Eleanor Miller in Eleanor’s garden
1984
Box 7:9
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, Eleanor Miller, Gertrude “Jean” Lewis, and Mary Thomson seated at a dinner table
1984
Box 7:9
A party on the back deck of 164 Strong St. Ruth Jane Totman (back to camera) and Maida Riggs (in pink blouse). Others unidentified
ca.1987
Box 7:9
A magnolia bush
1983
Box 7:9
Helen Curtis Cole
1984
Box 7:9
Helen Curtis Cole
1980
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman being hugged by a former student
1984
Box 7:9

This and the next 14 photographs are from a celebration at 164 Strong St following the naming of the Ruth J. Totman Physical Education Building on the UMass campus

Sally Ogilvie pins an honorary “M” on Ruth Jane Totman’s new suit
1984
Box 7:9
Dot Levens, Helen Van Alstine, Peggy Boyd, and Ellie Fillmore
1984
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman (center) and Maida Riggs (in pink) with former students
1984
Box 7:9
Jerry King and Jo Rogers
1984
Box 7:9
Helen Curtis and Carolyn Cornish
1984
Box 7:9
(l to r) Maida Riggs, Sally Ogilvie, Ruth Jane Totman, Peggy Boyd
1984
Box 7:9
(seated, l to r) Penny Drew, Ruth Jane Totman, Sonja Berquist
1984
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman and Aron Pressman
1984
Box 7:9
(l to r) Helen Curtis Cole, Aron Pressman, and Louise Pressman
1984
Box 7:9
(l to r) Ruth Jane Totman, Mrs. Van Meter, Aron Pressman
1984
Box 7:9
Gertrude “Jean” Lewis (left) and Ruth Jane Totman in Eleanor Miller’s garden
1984
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman
1980
Box 7:9
Mary Harmon
1983
Box 7:9
John Harmon V with the Benson girls
1983
Box 7:9
Jack Harmon with granddaughter, Carrie Benson
1983
Box 7:9
Sue, Anne, Carrie, and Andrea (Benson/Harmon)
1983
Box 7:9
(l to r) Carrie Benson, Jack Harmon, Crystle Benson
1983
Box 7:9
Tree (gift from RJT) in front of Barbara Clifford’s house
1980
Box 7:9
Ruth Jane Totman
ca.1984
Box 7:9
Photographs: Ruth Totman’s Photo Album
1954-1977
Box 7:10

This assemblage of snapshots was probably put together by Helen Curtis Cole, perhaps in Ruth’s final years or later, and perhaps on behalf of Jean Lewis. They are listed here as they appeared in the album (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Ruth Jane Totman dressed for an affair, in front of her sunroom
1964
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman beside a Poinsettia in her living room
1961
Box 7:10
T.O. Wilkinson and Ruth Jane Totman in the slat house in the rear of 164 Strong St.
1968
Box 7:10

T.O. and family were neighbors and dear friends of Ruth et al., and he a Professor of Sociology at UMass (CDT, Feb. 2003)

164 Strong St after a blizzard and driveway cleanup
1967
Box 7:10
Japanese Irises
1968
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman with a climbing rose in bloom
1972
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman in Maui, Hawaii
1977
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman and her daffodils
1955
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman and her daffodils
1955
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman, daffodils, flowering tree, and house
1955
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman adjacent to “beer garden”
1954
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman and others (Gertrude “Jean” Lewis on left, Miss Gambrel in center) in garden, in front of “beer garden” wall
1954
Box 7:10
Japanese Irises in bloom, blueberry patch in rear
ca.1960
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman in boots on wet lawn
1960
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman in her kitchen with “Gigi” Reid, a member of her Phys. Ed. staff
1960
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman in her garden with Margaret Williams, also on Phys. Ed. staff
1962
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman “bee-lining” with her brother, Raymond (right), and unidentified (left)
1958
Box 7:10
Ruth Jane Totman with lilies in the rear of 164 Strong St.
1954
Box 7:10
Photographs: Miscellany
Undated
Box 7:11

This batch of snapshots is odds and ends that reflect something about Ruth’s travels and friends. Dating is largely unclear. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

Quabbin Reservoir and a hang-glider
ca.1955
Box 7:11
View from atop Mt. Sugarloaf in South Deerfield
ca.1955
Box 7:11
View from atop Mt. Sugarloaf in South Deerfield,
ca.1955
Box 7:11
A person, probably Ruth, cartwheeling on a beach
ca.1935
Box 7:11
Ruth, with an unidentified friend
ca.1935
Box 7:11
A group that includes Ruth Jane Totman on the right and Gertrude “Jean” Lewis second from left, perhaps on a trip
ca.1945
Box 7:11
Distant snapshot of the Old Man in the Mountain?
ca.1945
Box 7:11

If this and the following four photographs are indeed in New Hampshire, then they may date to the late 1940s when Jean Lewis worked there. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

White Mountains in New Hampshire?
ca.1945
Box 7:11
White Mountains in New Hampshire?
ca.1945
Box 7:11
New Hampshire scenery?
ca.1945
Box 7:11
New Hampshire scenery?
ca.1945
Box 7:11
Ruth Jane Totman seated at picnic table, Helen Curtis on right, unidentified on left
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Ruth Jane Totman seated, with unidentified
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Six at picnic table: in rear, Helen Riegel, Ann McClure, Unidentified; and with backs to camera, probably Helen Curtis, Unidentified, and Gertrude “Jean” Lewis
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Beach scene under palm trees
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Beach scene
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Beach scene
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Perhaps the hotel where the visitors stayed
ca.1954
Box 7:11
Ruth Jane Totman with child in highchair
ca.1965
Box 7:11
A group traveling, it appears. Ruth Jane Totman in center in brown raincoat, Helen Curtis in white raincoat, third from right beyond white-haired man
ca.1977
Box 7:11
The barn which stands next to the Burpee House
1952
Box 7:11

This and the following seven photographs are of Fordbrook Farm, where W. Atlee Burpee began his program of plant breeding and selection that eventuated in the Burpee seed catalogue business. Probably Ruth visited it during one of her trips. (CDT, Feb. 2003)

The front of the Burpee home
1952
Box 7:11
The seed house
1952
Box 7:11
The back of the Burpee Home
1952
Box 7:11
The combined garage and office
1952
Box 7:11
Fordhook Farm’s original farmhouse
1952
Box 7:11
Another view of the barn
1952
Box 7:11
The entrance to the office at the other end of the building
1952
Box 7:11
Photographs: Ruth Totman’s Garden
1945-1985
Box 7:12
Photographs: Unidentified
Undated
Box 7:13
arrow

Provenance

Acquired from Conrad D. and Michiko Totman, 2005.

Processing Information

Processed by Alexander D. McKenzie, January 2007.

Related Material

Among other related collections, see:

Copyright and Use (More informationConnect to publication information)

Cite as: Ruth J. Totman Papers (FS 097). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Subjects

College buildings--Massachusetts--Amherst--History--SourcesConway (Mass.)--GenealogyDairy farms--MassachusettsFamily farms--United StatesFarm life--United StatesPhysical Education for womenTotman familyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--FacultyUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst--HistoryWomen physical education teachers

Contributors

Drew, Raymond Totman, 1923-1981Lewis, Gertrude Minnie, 1896-Totman, Conrad DTotman, Ruth J

Types of material

Genealogies