Fritts papers
Scope and Contents
The Ruth Myrtle Sonn Fritts Papers contain a diary, letters, notebook of expenses and other notes from her years at Mount Holyoke, biographical material, memorabilia, and photographs. The diary is equivalent to a daily planner that notes Fritts' daily activities and notes special campus events, such as Mountain Day, and family occasions during her four years at Mount Holyoke College (1914-1918). The letters from Fritts' former teacher, Russell Weisman, a member of the Harvard Ambulance Corps, describe his entrance into the military, his "Joining Uncle Sam." The ensuing letters describe Weisman's movements around Europe and his "baptism by fire" on the front line while stationed in France. Weisman further describes the destruction of World War I not only on the physical landscape, but the morale of the troops and he further describes the treatment of American soldiers, especially from gas intoxification, through the Harvard Ambulance Corps. Weisman writes of about the armistice due to German surrender primarily as a result of troop starvation.
Dates
- Creation: 1914-1988, bulk 1914-1919
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1914-1988, 1914-1919
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted
Biographical Note
Ruth Myrtle Sonn was born on November 30, 1897, in Jersey City, New Jersey. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1918 and worked for two years teaching French, German, and Music. On May 7, 1921, she married Harold E. Fritts. In 1946, she received her master's degree from New York State College for Teachers. She worked at Chatham Public School in Chatham, New York. Ruth Sonn Fritts died on March 13, 1988, in Golden, Colorado.
Extent
1 boxes (1918 Sonn)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Fritts, Ruth Myrtle Sonn, 1897-1988; Teacher. Mount Holyoke College graduate, 1918. Papers consist of diary, correspondence, notebook of expenses, biographical information, memorabilia, and photographs; primarily containing correspondence from Russell Weisman, a former Mount Holyoke teacher, regarding his work in the Harvard Ambulance Corps in Europe during World War I and descriptions of her academic and social life at Mount Holyoke.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into five series.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- College students -- Massachusetts -- Biography
- Mount Holyoke College -- Student expenses -- 1916-1918
- Mount Holyoke College -- Student life -- 1914-1918
- Mount Holyoke College -- Students
- Mount Holyoke College Manuscript Collections
- Soldiers -- United States -- Correspondence
- Women -- United States -- Social conditions
- Women college students -- Massachusetts -- Biography
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Belgium
- World War, 1914-1918 -- France
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Medical care
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American
- Title
- Fritts papers, 1914-1988 (bulk 1914-1919)
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Date
- © 2003
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Repository Details
Part of the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Repository
50 College Street
8 Dwight Hall
South Hadley MA 01075-6425 USA
413-538-3079
archives@mtholyoke.edu
