When I recently read White Man's Burden: A Personal Testament, by Ruth Smith (1946), I was very touched by her voice, and wanted to find out more about her. It is difficult to find much information, though, and I wondered if she still had friends or relatives living in Howard or the vicinity? I would love to know more about her. If anyone could put me in touch with folks, I would love to have a conversation with them.
Audrey Thompson
I have not heard of the name nor the book.
Can you provide more information about the theme of the book and what you know about her from reading the book?
Is she responding to the controversial Kipling poem?
Looks like we might have lost Audrey.
I remember the name Ruth Smith. I think she was related to some one at the Presbyterian Church.
Reola Reid may know who this lady is.
I took the liberty of obtaining a copy of White Man's Burden, a Personal Testament by Ruth Smith.
It is a small 5x8 book of 220 pages published in 1946 by Vanguard Press in New York and Copp Clark, Ltd. in Canada. The inside hard cover shows a $2 price levied by the publisher.
The title and content explains the "Rudyard Kipling connection."
I am wondering if the Howard Library has a copy.
I have not yet read the book past the first chapter. The first chapter is titled:
TO THE PEOPLE OF HOWARD, KANSAS.
That first chapter is a recollection of her youth and she speaks in broad general terms rather than specific areas of Howard. I was hoping she would have mentioned Fred Flory or Tom Thompson but she does not mention any names. She talks of immense trees down Main Street, traveling shows that came through town, the Soldiers Monument at the cemetery, upbringing, church, etc. She says that most people in Howard had never seen a Negro. She also speaks of the Mexicans in town working for the railroad who did not speak English. (I have always heard that Mexicans lived a rather squalid existence in boxcars along the tracks near the depot.)
It sounds like she might have been in her sixties when the book was published.
Synopsis from the book cover:
Hate engenders hate; understanding makes for understanding—and Ruth Smith, compassionate and clear-sighted, recognizes that it is understanding that must weave the strands of Negro and white relationships into a pattern for our society.
It was a chance meeting with a young woman of exceptional intelligence, beauty, and charm that was in part responsible for the path Miss Smith trod—that woman was a Negro. This path led the author down strange ways that were not without danger, for Ruth Smith realized her own life must be lived in a fashion compatible with her integrity if not with society. She became a teacher at a Negro school for girls in the South when the Ku Klux Klan was at the height of its sinister power; she identified herself with the Negro community and defiantly took her place in the "Jim Crow" sections of streetcars and buses. But her experiences have left Miss Smith utterly without bitterness; she could condemn but chooses rather to understand. It is the cruelty, and the men responsible for the cruelty, that Miss Smith abhors.
Born in Kansas, near the emotional pulse and geographic center of this country, bearing the most American of all names and brought up a firm and devout believer in the American Dream, Ruth Smith is—to paraphrase the anti-Americans—"blonde Nordic white, Gentile, Protestant, native-born"--and this is her testament, not of hate but of love for all humankind.
In the last chapter she has returned to Howard.
Very interesting!
Attached is a photo of Ruth Smith in 1946.
I missed her age by a few years. She was 43 years old at the time.
Ruth Smith was born in Howard on January 4, 1903, to George and Jane Smith. George Smith was the Smith part of the Smith and Goodwin department store.
George belonged to the Presbyterian Church. That church was on north Pine Street and burned in the late 1930s. I am not sure but the brown brick church on north Pine might be on the same property.
In her book, she mentions her church ran a college in a town of 12,000 close to Howard. She does not mention her church name nor does she mention the name of the college town. That seems to me to be Winfield but Southwestern College is a Methodist run school. Maybe she switched churches.
Besides White Man's Burden a Personal Testament published in 1946, she published The Tree of Life in 1966. This book is available on EBay and Alibris.
As of 1977, Ruth Smith was living in Prescott Arizona. She apparently never married. A sister, Josephine, was born in 1911 in Howard and moved to Prescott with her husband.
Her church was the Presbyterian Church. The school was tHE COLLEGE OF EMPORIA. Tom Thompson ad fred Flory were members also.
Thank you Jody.
I had forgotten about that little school.
When I was in college, I always wondered how Emporia could have/support two colleges.
The Presbyterian Church established College of Emporia in 1882.
William Allen White also went there.
The school became Way College of Emporia in 1975.
In 1989, it too went out of business.
Are you sure that the Presbyterian Church was on North Pine Street in the 30s? I grew up in the Presbyterian Church on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the original church bell from the bell tower was mounted on a tall concrete pedestal in its yard. I just assumed that was the location of the church when it burned.
Alas, don't get me started on the condition of the beautiful little Presbyterian Church building. Like the hotel and the bank building, it is so sad that these landmarks were allowed to deteriorate. It makes me sick to drive by "my church".
Now, you have me wondering.
Several years ago when doing research on Tom Thompson, I came across the Pine Street location but cannot remember where.
At the time of his death in 1935, both Howard newspapers mention the church without an address. The Courant says the Thompsons, who married in 1882, made their newlywed household directly across the street west of where the church services took place. The church burned a couple years later.
When he died, Tom lived on Chestnut in the 300 south block. Chestnut is west of Pennsylvania.
The Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, though, has him erecting a new house on Pine Street in 1904. However, west of a church location on Pine would not be on Pine, it would be towards Wabash. That same story says he had another house on Pine Street. Presumably he was able to keep his old home for rental.
A picture of the original church is in the Elk County history book, No location is given but says the rebuilt church had the old bell resting in the yard.
If the church were originally on Pine, one can wonder why the congregation would move to a new location rather than rebuild on land they already owned.
On June 29, 1922, Ruth Smith and another young lady furnished the music at the wedding of Paul Thompson, Grenola, and Opal Perkins, Howard, at the Presbyterian Church.
Ruth Smith died in November 1986 at Prescott, Arizona.
Oh my goodness -- thank you all! I kept checking the web page for the forum, and it always said "0 replies," so I didn't check further. Today, somehow, I thought to probe further, and found all these wonderful replies. (I have never used a forum before, so I probably just didn't know how to negotiate it properly.) Thank you so much!
Other folks have already provided information about the book itself, so I will just add what it was that drew me to want to know more. Ruth Smith has such a sense of place, such a distinctive voice, and she was so thoughtful about the ways in which she (and many of us; I am white and teach teachers about race relations) have learned to think (or not think) about race. Other whites were writing about race in interesting ways in 1946, but not too many teachers were. I liked how she could see things in such complex ways, and how she focused not on just understanding things consciously but responding to them in heartfelt ways. And it sounded like both her church and her sense of belonging in Howard were a vital part of how she understood her place in the world, so I really want to know more about where she was from, how she lived the rest of her life, and if she ever wrote more.
I am in awe of all the details you were able to furnish me with -- thank you, thank you! If anyone has more information or insights, I would love to hear more -- and will try to familiarize myself better with the forum so that I don't miss any replies.
Best, Audrey Thompson
I have finished reading White Man's Burden: A Personal Testament. Oddly enough, I had trouble getting past the first chapter—some thirty-five pages—even though it was about Howard. I guess I was looking for names, places, and facts but there were none.
Beginning with chapter two, she gives an interesting account of her days at the College of Emporia (she does not specifically identify her school however) and sees Negro people for the first time, even attends a Negro church. She uses the terms Negro and colored as was the custom at the time. One of the crises she describes while at the college is her school's refusal to admit a Negro. The period is around 1920.
After graduation, she goes with other white graduates to Alabama to teach at a black girl's boarding school. She describes a run in with the Ku Klux Klan. Not her run in specifically, but the school in general. It seems that when the local white populace thought the school was getting to smart for its own good the Klan visited. These visits always took place at night and somehow word always got to the school they were coming. All lights were extinguished and everyone moved away from the windows and remained very quiet. More white men than they could count came in automobiles with all wearing white sheets. The Klan leader would give an inflammatory speech in front of the school as to what might happen should the school not tone down. When they were finished, they left a burning cross in the schoolyard.
As she puts it, she became one of them and always sat in the Negro rear section of public transportation. She and several other white women appear to have been way ahead of their time in recognizing that there are no basic differences between any of the races.
She gives a description of an automobile accident in which a young Negro woman is badly injured. There is a local hospital but it is for whites only. The girl is taken to a private home but when that did not work out; they have to call an ambulance to come from a black hospital in another state. By the time the ambulance arrived, and then returned to the hospital, she was dead.
After Alabama, she goes to New York City and becomes a librarian. At one point, she returns to Alabama by train for a short visit. At Washington, DC, all colored people are asked to leave and go to a car reserved for them. The trip then continues through the Deep South.
By 1946, the publication date of the book, she is back in Howard.
***
In 1959, I was in college in South Carolina. A local black apparently did something that was objectionable and a gang of whites cornered him. Taking their knives, they carved a huge KKK into his back. The students from the south thought the man got his just reward. The local newspaper ran a photo of the man's back and much to its credit condemned the action.
The Pentagon has a Washington, DC address but is actually in Virginia. The building has restrooms all over the place. In fact, it has twice as many as required by the building code. The reason is that when it was built in 1940, it was built in accordance with Virginia law. There was an equal number of restrooms for blacks and whites.
Audrey Thompson:
Perhaps I can add some color to the broad strokes that the denizens of this forum have provided here.
I vaguely remember meeting Ruth Smith while she was writing the book. Her parents were neighbors of my grandparents, Albert and Edith Andrews.
I was around 10 years old when the book was published and it was about the biggest literary event ever in Howard.
Since it was published in 1946 I have a more vivid memory of the sound of the typewriter coming from little one room "Library" where she wrote it. This would have had to been during the summer of 1945 in the aftermath of WWII.
The library was the small one room building behind the residence next to alley, directly across from the grade school building. My Grandfather was a carpenter and was friends, and sometime associate, with the builders (whose name have slipped into the dustbin). Anyway, I was allowed free run of the site when it was under construction. Miss Smith (I was never allowed to call her anything else.) came out to look at the place before just before it was finished and I went through the usual bashful kid "glad to meet you ma'm" introduction. I think it was right after she came back to Howard.
I remember my parents talking about Ruth Smith as someone who was thought to have been a "little odd". I can still remember my father saying she had "more guts than good sense" do what she did in the South. I never did find out what that was.
I have to cut off now but I'll try to build up a Google map of the residence and location and maybe somebody can come up with some pictures.
Was this house you're referring to the one facing south on Randolph right across from the elementary school? When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, Mrs. Cook lived there.
My dad worked for Smith & Goodwin as a young man, and I remember hearing stories about Arthur Goodwin but never anything about Mr. Smith. I don't know how connected he was with the store at that time in the mid-40s.
According to the Elk County history book....
George Smith was a sales clerk and bookkeeper in the store before becoming part owner in 1895.
In 1945, he sold out to Arthur Goodwin.
Quote from: patyrn on November 28, 2007, 03:50:41 PM
Was this house you're referring to the one facing south on Randolph right across from the elementary school? When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, Mrs. Cook lived there.
Sounds close but to be more precise the house was at the corner of Randolph and Pennsylvania across from the vacant space that served as the grades 1-4 ball diamond and had the flag pole.
As a technological exercise here is a link to what should be a google map of the area Howard (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=103624063280663580327.000440149bede98a775ae&ll=37.469264,-96.266166&spn=0.002546,0.006437&z=17&om=0)
If you don't have broadband you will need to be patient to see anything.
Re:
Quote from: W. Gray on November 28, 2007, 05:09:15 PM
According to the Elk County history book....
George Smith was a sales clerk and bookkeeper in the store before becoming part owner in 1895.
In 1945, he sold out to Arthur Goodwin.
That sounds right since I remember that the Smith's moved out shortly after and I don't any other occurrence of Ruth Smith returning to Howard.
I think Goodwin sold out soon after Smith left but the store kept the Smith and Goodwin name until some years later when it became the Hebb Family Store
My dad was Cecil Hebb, and he and Nina Garrett bought into the Smith & Goodwin store, but I'm not at all sure actually when they became the owners. They kept the store running under the Smith & Goodwin name until 1966. At that time, Nina retired and my dad and mom established Hebb's Family Store on a smaller scale across the street in the building north of Hottinger's that used to be a cleaner shop. The Production Credit took over the spot where Hottinger's was and wanted to buy the adjoining property north, so my parents sold to them and moved across the street where the old Allen's Drug Store had been. My dad died in 1973, and mother kept Hebb's Family Store in operation until her retirement in 1979.
The house in question at the corner of Randolph and Pennsylvania was later the home to Mrs. Forsyth. the mother of Allen Forsyth. I don't know where the Smiths relocated.
Dear Carl and others,
I am thrilled to have all these further details, and the map! Thank you so much. Is the Smith house still standing? Is the one-room library still there? I would love to see a picture of them if anyone has one.
Ruth Smith taught at a school for young black women in the south, and she accepted segregation with them, so that she rode in the black train car and otherwise refused to accept white privileges. For this and other reasons she was seen as a race traitor in the south, so probably that is what your father was referring to when he said that "she had 'more guts than good sense' to do what she did in the South."
I live in Utah but my parents still live in central Illinois, where I'm from, so maybe one of these days I'll take a road trip through Howard. It would be great to see where Ruth Smith is from. If I were to fly in, what would be the nearest airport?
I got to wondering today whether anyone might have an old yearbook from grade school or high school or college that Ruth Smith would be featured in. Would the Howard library have copies of yearbooks? I keep meaning to call them, but my timing is always off. Anyway, if anyone has a yearbook with Ruth Smith's picture in it, I would love to know about it!
One more thing -- Carl, when you say that "it was the biggest literary event ever in Howard," do you (or others) remember any specifics about celebrations or conversations or newspaper coverage?
Thanks again, so much, to everyone for all this information. I feel very lucky, as I don't know any other way that I would have gotten anything like this detail! Best, Audrey
White Man's Burden A Personal Testament, Vanguard Press, N.Y., published in 1946 is actually Ruth Smith's second book rather than first. Vanguard is now part of Random House.
Her first book was The Tree of Life, Viking Press, N.Y., published in 1942. The tenth printing came in 1966.
The Tree of Life is a 500-page compilation of writings from other books on several world religions. She is the editor rather than the author. She includes American Indian; Norse, Hindu; Buddhist; Confucianist; Taoist; Egyptian; Babylonia; Greek; Zoroastrian; Hebrew and Christian—Old Testament; Christian—New Testament; and Mohammedan Religions.
The only way I can relate my copy to our Ruth Smith is in the Acknowledgments section in which she thanks Miss Josephine Smith for reading the manuscript. Josephine was her sister's name and according to the Elk County history book was eight years her junior. Apparently, Josephine married rather late in life and according to a College of Emporia graduate wound up marrying her cousin.
W. Gray -- I do think that she is the author of both, but you are right that it is hard to know for sure. I love your detection work in making the connection to her sister! It is clear from White Man's Burden that she is a very religious woman open to learning from many others, so I was not surprised to see that she had (probably) edited Tree of Life (which I had not realized until your earlier post -- thank you!). My husband found me a signed copy of The Tree of Life -- it is inscribed to "Evelyn," but there is no indication who Evelyn might be.
I did contact someone at the Howard library and also the chair of the Benson Historical Museum, but neither had ever heard of Ruth Smith, so it is thrilling to me that there are folks on the forum who knew her or knew of her and others who are so helpful in tracking down all these details. Thank you!
Audrey
It does not surprise me those folks had not heard of Ruth Smith.
I do not think anyone on this forum knew of her unless it was Carl. Or, if they did, no one was saying.
I was living in Howard at the 1946 publication of White Man's Burden but was just a small child.
The editor and writers of the Elk County history book written in the late 1970s apparently had not heard of her either.
As far as I can tell, she is not mentioned in the main historical narrative and receives only a fleeting mention in the George Smith family history submission provided by someone connected to the family.
That mention says she wrote two books and gives the title of each.
Quote from: W. Gray on December 11, 2007, 09:15:50 PM
It does not surprise me those folks had not heard of Ruth Smith.
I do not think anyone on this forum knew of her unless it was Carl. Or, if they did, no one was saying.
I believe the only ones who might have known about Ruth Smith were the local school teachers who were of similar age (Hazel Moore, Agnes Miller, and my Mother.) All of whom have passed on. Margaret Gragg may have known her but she was the youngest of the bunch and may not have really had any contact or knowldege of her.
We had an autographed copy of White Man's Burden which I believe Ruth Smith gave to my grandmother (Edith Andrews) and it passed into my mothers collection. When she died the book was sold during the estate sale. I don't recall it generating any interest at the sale.
The more I think about this lady and how little is known about her in home town leads me to believe she may have been one of those "radicals" that the home folk neighbors would just as soon not admit that they knew. I'll have to dig up the book and read it again. But considering the "colored rights" atmosphere of the time the book may have been considered something to acknowledge but ignore.
Carl,
Hazel Moore and Agnes Moore are both still living in their 90s in their own homes in Howard.
When I spoke with Margaret Gragg, she had not heard of Ruth Smith. I would love to speak with or write to Hazel Moore and Agnes Moore -- does anyone know whether they might be willing for me to contact them (by letter, email, or phone)?
Audrey
Hazel Moore's memory is pretty weak, so she probably wouldn't be of much help. Agnes Miller might be a viable source, but I'm not sure how her health situation is. Anyone in Howard have any idea about that?
Hazel Moore is 98 years old and I have visited her a few times on visits to Howard.
She never remembers me unless cued with "Jack Gray's boy."
She came to Howard at least by 1928.
I once asked her if she could remember Tommy Thompson (a famous Kansas newspaper editor from Howard though not as famous as William Allen White of Emporia).
She had no recollection.
Margaret Gragg is 93.
I met Agnes Miller once but otherwise do not know her.
To my knowledge Agnes is still very alert, and would welcome anyone I am sure. Her brother Elwood is in Twilight Manor, but Agnes still lives in her own home and takes care of herself. Agnes is in her 90's also, and has a hearing problem, but the last time I talked to her, she was fine.
Could you give me a snail mail address at which to write to her, given that she has hearing limitations?
My email is Thompson@pauahtun.org if you wouldn't mind sending me any information about how to contact her. I am also happy to call, if she can talk on the phone if I talk loud.
Thank you so much!
Audrey
Audrey Thompson:
I was reviewing this thread and noticed that nobody responded to your question of the nearest airport. Well during the 40 odd years of returning to Howard from all over the U.S. I can say there is no nearest airport. Unless you have a private pilot among your associates, the closest you can get to Howard by commercial air is about 130 miles. So it's rental car miles the rest of the way. Since you are from Utah 130 miles shouldn't bother you.
I eventually came to prefer Tulsa Oklahoma as the airport of choice. It is on the north side of Tulsa and it is a straight shot up US-75 to Bartlesville then by US-60 to OK-99 which turns into Ks-99 straight into Howard. Wichita and Kansas City are both require driving through or around metropolitan areas to get on the road towards Howard. However both have points of interest which would make for interesting stops.
If you are coming from southern Illinois you are better off driving the whole way. I spent six winters in Kokomo Indiana and after three trips through O'Hare to Kansas City, I figured out that it still took a day and a half to get to Howard. I could drive the distance in the same length of time, some times a lot quicker when summer thunderstorms closed down O'Hare.
There is always good old Wichita airport. You just have to drive from the west side of Wichita all the way through on Kellogg to get going east on 400 to K-99 to Howard. Not a problem.
As for wanting information, even though Elwood Miller is in the Nursing Home, his mind is very intact. He is a wealth of information.
Once again, many thanks to all of you! I would love to contact these folks if you think they would be comfortable with a phone call. I am also very tempted to visit, but I doubt that it would be before some months, at the earliest -- I appreciate the advice on how to get there, though, in case I can make plans in advance. If you have a # where I could reach either Agnes Miller or Elwood Miller (are they related?), could you send me the information at the following email?
Thompson@pauahtun.org
Thank you so much! It would be great to talk with folks who knew Ruth Smith.
Best, Audrey
Agnus Miller's address is
242 North Cedar
Howard Ks 67349
Her phone # is 620-374-2238
Elwood is in the Howard Twilight Manor Nursing Home.
He is very sharp and loves to visit and can remember many things in detail .
The Nursing Home's number is 620-374-2495
and the address there is: 849 East Washington.
Terrific -- thank you so much, Teresa!
Audrey
When we lived in Pratt, we always took the loop around Wichita to avoid going on Kellogg. If we were traveling late at night, we would sometimes use Kellogg, but it was much easier to take the loop around.
Myrna
Audrey, I apologize for not reading your post for info about Anges. When I have called her, she has been able to hear me very well, so you might give that a try, I know that Elwood calls her every day at 3 PM - they are brother and sister and the only ones left in their immediate family.
Thank you, Jo -- I will look forward to speaking with both of them, then!
Yesterday I received the obituary for Ruth Smith in the mail. I have typed out the information and am including it below. All of you have been so generous in finding information about her for me, and I am delighted to give you some in return. I think it was W. Gray who had found out for me (I don't know how!) that she died in Prescott in Nov. 1986 -- thank you! That was invaluable information and made it possible for me to ask a public archivist in AZ to track the obituary down for me.
Hope you all find this as fascinating as I did!
Audrey
Ruth Hays Smith, 83, died Saturday, Nov. 8, in Prescott. Born Jan. 4, 1903, in Howard, Kan., she was the daughter of George and Jane Hays Smith.
She attended public schools in Howard and graduated from Howard High School in 1920. She then attended the College of Emporia and graduated with honors in 1924.
After teaching for a year at Howard, she taught for two years at Barber College, a Presbyterian Mission School for black girls in Anniston, Ala. She spent the next year at Columbia University in New York City and received her master's degree in English. For the next two years, she taught at Spelman College in Atlanta.
She worked as a secretary for the dean of students at Columbia University and as an assistant to a professor there. She taught at the New York State Women's Prison at Westfield Farm in Bedford Hills, N.Y., and also worked with Pearl Buck and the East-West Foundation and for the American Friends Services Committee.
She spent one summer writing at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, N.H.
As a writer, she helped write and edit several books, including "The Tree of Life" published by Viking Press, which was the result of her work with Robert Ballou on "The Bible of the World." Her book "White Man's Burden," published by Vanguard Press, recounted her teaching experiences at Barber College.
From 1954–58, she taught at Green Mountain Junior College in Poultney, Vt. She also taught at Baldwin School in Haverford, Pa., and at the Haverford Friends' meeting. She was active in AFSC until her retirement in March 1968.
In 1976, she moved to Columbia, Mo., and settled in Prescott with relatives in 1977.
She is survived by her sister, Josephine Smith Kerr of Prescott; a niece, Rebecca J. Brown of Baldwin City, Kan.; three first-cousins, Mildred Frost Fowler of Omaha, Neb., Maurita Hays Anderson of McPherson, Kan., and Edward D. Hays of Los Angeles; and several other relatives.
Services and burial will be in Howard. Memory Chapel Mortuary handled local arrangements.
She sure had quite an academic life.
Worked with Pearl Buck--impressive.
The obit says her burial was in Howard. Next time I am there, I will go searching for her grave site and take a photo and post. If someone locally wants to do so in the meantime, please do.
The Elk County history book gives her date of birth as January 4, 1903, and indicates she was in Prescott, Arizona, as of 1977. Her sister, Josephine, wrote the portion concerning the George Smith family. Josephine mentions only that Ruth wrote two books and where she was located.
Assuming she was not 104 years old by now, I went to the Social Security deceased records web site. Since I did not have a social security number, I did a general search for Ruth Smith. Note that deceased individuals do not have any privacy rights.
Five and one-half thousand hits popped up for a deceased person by the name of Ruth Smith.
Querying on her date of birth returned the fact she died in November 1986 at Prescott. Of all those 5,500 named Ruth Smith, her death is the only one showing a birth date of January 4, 1903.
A day or so later, I received an Email from an individual belonging to an association of College of Emporia graduates who said their records showed her death occurred in 1986.
I did a search for obituaries in Yavapai County newspapers but 1986 was too far back to reveal anything.
Isn' it interesting how alive this person has become now that we know a little something about her. Good work you guys. She was an interesting Elk county citizen.
A thoroughly interesting story of how you dug up all that useful information! -- I was really glad to know, so thank you for posting the specifics. She is very hard to track down, because her name is not unusual, so all this information is exciting to have.
Apart from my interest in Ruth Smith as a writer and educator, I am interested in her as a rather adventurous woman born early in the 20th century. She was born only a year before my grandmother, so it is intriguing to compare their different decisions.
Audrey
Ruth Smith, who never married, is buried next to her parents, George and Jane Smith.
The parents were the Smith half of Smith and Goodwin.
I live in Nelson, NH. Just found a reference to Ruth Smith in a book by a local author, Newt Tolman ("North of Monadnock", published 1961), p 27. Two paragraphs referring to her. Starts "Some time ago we drove across the river to visit Ruth Smith, who has written some good things, among them an inspired book called White Man's Burden. Ruth is a real old Vermonter, having moved there from Kansas twelve years ago."
It's never ceases to amaze me how old threads can suddenly come back to life. I hope the originator (Audrey Thompson?) of this thread finds your response and gives us another update on her search for Ruth Smith. It has been over 3 years since Waldo's last entry 8)
-=crl=-
San Antonio TX