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.
