Conditions Governing Access

This collection is minimally processed and open for research.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16889, Ruth A. Curtis art notebook, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased from Langdon Manor by the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia on 18 April 2023.

Biographical / Historical Description

Ruth Alden Curtis was born on December 31, 1878 in Massachusetts to Theodore and Ellen Curtis. She had two older brothers, Frederick and George. She died in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut on September 20, 1969 at the age of 90. Ruth was interred at Palisado Cemetery in Windsor, alongside her father, mother, and brother, Frederick, who died at 23 years old in 1887.

Content Description

This collection contains a single notebook of Ruth A. Curtis of Windsor, Connecticut. The notebook documents her studies in art, spanning two different groups of lessons from 1906-1909. There are encouraging notes from her instructor, Marshall T. Fry, and several examples of her art, including woodblock prints and two colorful drawings of flowers. Her notes include motive, arrangement, color, shape, value, intensity, design principles, and lecture notes. Curtis also copied a "Schedule of 10 lessons in design" by Frank Alvah Parsons of the Chase Art School in New York. Immediately following this schedule was a list of materials and their costs for a "Winter 1908-9" group of lessons with "Instructor Marshall Frye."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Arts
• Langdon Manor Books
• School notebooks
• Women students