Title: Ruth Ketterer Harris papers
Inclusive Dates: 1909 - 2009

Creator:

• Harris, Ruth Ketterer, 1910-1990

Unique Identifier: uac346

Quantity: 1.5 linear feet of paper documents, bound volumes, and one optical disk.

• 1.5 Linear Feet
• 1 record storage carton and 1 letter document box

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. University Archives and Records Management

Archival Location:

UW-Madison Archives and Records Management (Map)

Abstract:

This collection consists of two boxes containing professional papers of Ruth Ketterer Harris, including writings she authored as a student of the School of Human Ecology (then School of Home Economics) at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, research materials she accumulated as a faculty member at the UW-Madison School of Home Economics and curator of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection. Also included is a catalog of the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library conducted in 2009.

Language: English .

URL to cite for this finding aid: https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-ua-uac346

Ruth Ketterer Harris was born Ruth Elizabeth Ketterer in 1910. She received both her Bachelor's in Home Economics and Education (1931) and Master's in Home Economics (1932) degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She taught high school until her marriage to Wilfred Harris, and she served as the assistant curator for the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum from 1943 to 1945. In the 1950s, she taught weaving at the Madison Vocational School and at UW-Madison, where she became a member of the faculty in the School of Home Economics (now the School of Human Ecology). She worked closely with Helen Louise Allen in the development of the textile collection at the university, and began her own tenure in 1968, after Allen's death, as the first curator of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection. She retired in 1977 as Curator Emeritus.

Harris kept a personal research library which became the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library donated after her death in 1990 by her husband, to the School of Human Ecology, as a non-circulating reference library which officially opened for the first time in 1992. Later, the collection became more widely available and preserved through the Kohler Art Library and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Special Collections.

NOTE: The UW Archives Biographical Files have one folder for Harris, Ruth, which contains a summary of a scrapbook and several photocopies of documents, correspondence, and articles, mostly relating to Harris' time as the assistant curator of the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum.

This collection contains professional papers of Ruth Ketterer Harris, who was the first curator of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in the School of Home Economics (now the School of Human Ecology) at the University of Wisconsin. It includes writings, research and reference materials, and catalogs of both the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection and the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library.

Series 1: Writings consists of research papers Harris wrote as a student of Home Economics, including her Master's thesis, which is typed and bound with pasted images included.

Series 2: Arts by Location is the first series of research and reference materials containing pamphlets, samples, patterns, bibliographies, newsletters, notes, articles, and lesson planning for courses which focus on particular regions, countries, and cultures.

Series 3: Arts by Subject is the second series of research and reference materials containing pamphlets, samples, patterns, bibliographies, newsletters, notes, articles, and lesson planning for courses which focus on a single art, material, or other subject, often with many different locations represented.

Series 4: Collection Management is the third series of research and reference materials containing pamphlets, bibliographies, newsletters, notes, and articles, all relating to the management and development of museum and library collections generally. Also included is a newsletter of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection from 1989.

Series 5: Cataloging is divided into two subseries and consists of collection catalogs.

Series 5: Cataloging, Subseries 1: Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection consists of a printed catalog of the embroidery (Berlin wool work) collection from 1976 and a printed indexed guide to the full catalog from 1985 in two volumes.

Series 5: Cataloging, Subseries 2: Ruth Ketterer Harris Library consists of a catalog of Harris' reference library conducted in 2009 (after her death in 1990 and after the library opened in 1992). There is both a digital copy on an optical disk and a physical paper copy with handwritten notes.

Some folders of research materials are organized alphabetically primarily by the location and culture they pertain to, and others by a single art or material or other subject, often with several locations represented. Originally, these were all interfiled in one alphabetical series, but they have been split into seperate series for clarity: Series 2: Arts by Location, Series 3: Arts by Subject, and Series 4: Collection Management. Series 1: Writings is also alphabetical. Series 5: Cataloging, Subseries 1: Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is chronological. Series 5: Cataloging, Subseries 2: Ruth Ketterer Harris Library is in its original order.

This collection contains a format that may not be readily accessible. This collection includes an optical disk labeled as a digital version of the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List. The contents or device necessary for viewing this item have not been evaluated. However, it is inferred that the paper version is a representative substitute. Please consult University Archives staff for more information on access.

This collection has no known access restrictions.

Collection materials may be subject to laws governing rights. Researchers are solely responsible for determining the rights status of the materials they use. Permission may be required for some uses such as publication or reproduction.

Source unknown

Home economics -- Study and teachingTextile craftsTextile museumsAcademic librariesHelen Allen Textile Collection

	Series: Series 1: Writings
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 1	History of our Modern Architecture thesis by Ruth Ketterer Harris, 1932-01-18
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 2	Papers on Queen Elizabeth and her Influences on Dress Then and Now by Ruth Ketterer Harris for Home Economics Course 200, 1931 - 1932
	Series: Series 2: Arts by Location	⇧
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 3	Africa - Arts and Cultures research materials, 1972 - 1990
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 4	Belgium - Flemish Lace and Lier pamphlets, 1992
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 5	China - Metropolitan Museum of Art bulletin, 1963-11
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 6	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 1 of 10, 1979 - 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 7	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 2 of 10, 1957 - 1997
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 8	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 3 of 10, 1964
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 9	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 4 of 10, 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 10	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 5 of 10, 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 11	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 6 of 10, 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 12	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 7 of 10, 1976 - 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 13	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 8 of 10, 1980 - 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 14	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 9 of 10, 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 15	India - Arts and Textiles research and course materials 10 of 10, 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 16	Indonesia - Arts and Textiles research and course materials, 1979 - 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 17	Indonesia - Batik fabric samples
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 18	Japan - Textiles and Stencil pamphlets, 1980 - 1982
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 19	North America - Indigenous Peoples' Arts, Navajo Weaving research materials 1937 - 1987
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 20	North America - Norwegian-American and Pennisylvania Dutch Arts research materials, 1964
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 21	Norway - Sámi Textiles, American Scientist magazine clipping 1985-11 - 1985-12
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 22	Panama - Mola Arts research materials 1 of 2, 1966 - 1986
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 23	Panama - Mola Arts research materials 2 of 2, 1984
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 24	Saudi Arabia - Textiles pamphlet, 1987 - 1989
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 25	Sweden - Mönsterblat patterns, 1947 - 1958
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 26	Turkey - Textile Design pamphlets, 1958 - 1984
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 27	Ukraine - Embroidery patterns
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 28	Wisconsin - Hmong Arts article, exhibit, and newsletters 1984 - 1989
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 29	Wisconsin - Textile History research materials, 1951
	Series: Series 3: Arts by Subject	⇧
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 30	Basket Making research materials, 1909 - 1979
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 31	Beadwork research materials, 1912 - 1976
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 32	Buttons, Paperweight pamphlet 1963-11
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 33	Chip Carving, Modernist pamphlet 1945
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 34	Metal - Appliqué, Enameling, Weights research materials 1950 - 1968
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 35	Netting pamphlets, 1914 - 1949
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 36	Printing, Textile research materials 1949 - 1986
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 37	Spinning Wheel article in Currents pamphlet, 1978
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 38	Tapestry research materials, 1976
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 39	Wool research materials, 1988
	Series 4 - Collection Management
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 40	Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection newsletter vol. 3, 1989
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 41	History Textile Research Institute 1930 - 1970 book, 1970
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 42	Museum Collection Management and Conserviation research materials, 1955 - 1988
Box [89136396785]   1   folder 43	Textile Research book reviews and catalog ads, 1960
	Series: Series 5: Cataloging	⇧
	Subseries: Subseries 1: Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 1	A Catalogue of Berlin Wool Work in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, 1976
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 2	Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection Indexed Guide to the Videodisc Visual Catalog vol. 1, 1985
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 3	Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection Indexed Guide to the Videodisc Visual Catalog vol. 2, 1985
	Subseries: Subseries 2: Ruth Ketterer Harris Library	⇧
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 4	Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List disk version, 2009
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 5	Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List printed version 1 of 4, 2009-01-22
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 6	Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List printed version 2 of 4, 2009-01-22
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 7	Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List printed version 3 of 4, 2009-01-22
Box [89136396777]   2   folder 8	Ruth Ketterer Harris Library Shelf List printed version 4 of 4, 2009-01-22