Overview
Correspondence, photos, clippings, etc., of Ruth Jarvis MacKay-Scott, civic reformer and women's club member.
Dates
- Creation: 1928-1941
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Ruth Jarvis MacKay-Scott as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
2.34 linear feet ((1+1/2 file boxes, 1 folio+ box) plus 1 folio+ folder)The papers of Ruth Jarvis MacKay-Scott contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, and printed material. The bulk of the collection relates to MacKay-Scott's service with the Woman's Club of Evanston, 1936-1939, while personal correspondence indicates that she entertained musicians, lecturers, physicians, and others who participated in programs she organized or sponsored.
BIOGRAPHY
Ruth MacKay-Scott was the wife of Andrew MacKay-Scott, a wealthy stockbroker in Evanston, Illinois. In the late 1920's the family lived for several years in California, where many Jarvis relatives lived. (They also had a summer home on Cape Cod, where MacKay-Scott was isolated during the 1938 hurricane.) This collection consists of correspondence, newsclippings, and other printed materials, the bulk of which was collected in 1936-1939 while MacKay-Scott was an officer of the Woman's Club of Evanston.
MacKay-Scott focused her civic interests on social service and mental health programs, such as the Infant Welfare Society, Evanston King's Daughters (an organization for dependent girls and women), juvenile justice, and venereal disease education. In 1930 she was Secretary of the Southern California Society for Mental Hygiene and in that capacity was a member of the Committee on Organization of the First International Congress on Mental Hygiene. She was also on the Board of the Los Angeles Woman's Health Center.
She joined in sponsoring cultural activities in Evanston and took an interest in current political issues. The personal correspondence indicates that she entertained in her home lecturers, musicians, physicians, and other notables who participated in programs she organized and/or helped sponsor.
MacKay-Scott's immediate family included her husband, Andrew Scott (Mac); daughter, Jean Margaret (who married Joseph Earl Sample in October 1940); son, Andrew MacKay, Jr. (Andy); and her mother, Emily Little Jarvis.
Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 69-38, 1005
The papers of Ruth Jarvis MacKay-Scott were deposited with the Schlesinger Library in 1966 by her daughter-in-law, Dr. Anne Firor Scott.
CONTAINER LIST
- Box 1: 1-18
- Box 2: 19-20, volumes 1-6
- Folio+ Box 3: 7vo-8vo
Processing Information
Processed: June 1976
By: Jean Weaver
Geographic
Topical
Subject
- Title
- MacKay-Scott, Ruth Jarvis. Papers of Ruth Jarvis MacKay-Scott, 1928-1941: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00713
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.