Willson, Ruth. [Small Collection of Ephemera Documenting Experiences with Delta Sigma Theta.]

Collection contains ten scrapbook leaves (twelve handwritten pages) measuring 12" x 9¼"; five pieces of ephemera and eight photographs, all but three measuring 5" x 7" or larger. Generally very good: scrapbook leaves are laminated; a couple of photos with significant wear. This is a terrific group of materials documenting one woman's experience at Delta Sigma Theta (DST), Ruth Willson. Due to how common Ruth's name is when it's mispelled (including on her DST certificate here), we have not been able to learn much about her, save that she was from Pittsburgh and attended Duquesne University. The highlight of the collection is a twelve page handwritten project that was almost certainly required by DST as part of her pledgeship, "I Study Hard." It begins with a three page autobiography of sorts (approximately 800 words) where Ruth shared aspects of her childhood, including kindergarten and she had this to say about high school]: "School days! And play days! And what a combination. Time rolls on into years and at thirteen this 'Ruth' was entering high school with a very much 'grown up air!' She applied herself studiously to her books, her homeworks and extra curricular activities. She joined the art club, the choral club, the honor society, and the dramatic club . . . in the year of 1937, she enrolled in what was known as 'Duquesne University.' Here she entered the school of drama in hopes of someday finding the opportunity to teach the subject most dear to her heartthe study of the legitimate stage." Other pages in the project include a rendition of the Greek alphabet, the DST Code, and a listing of eleven DST rules/guidlines. Included in the list: "II. Mental tasks are more important than physical. Be prepared to take a test on the questions and requirements received. An 'A' average is required . . . . V. In answer to all demands by Deltas, your reply shall be, 'My worthy superior, I humbly obey.'" Interestingly, the project also included a three page essay (approximately 1500 words) on the causes of the Sino-Japanese War; in part, "The racial cause, too, is permeated with economical and political. Du Bois said that 'the problem of the twentieth century was the problem of the color line.' Race cannot be erased as much as our Negro leadership and Negro representative crowd pretend to ignore it, or escape it. Japan maintains the theoretical belief that all men are equal, and therefore all races must also be equal. To be equal, a race must have the things, material, and spiritual and mental, that another race has. In the sum total, to be equal to that race it must take its measure from the highest standard exemplified by the white race and not from the lowest standard exemplified by the back race. The white race has industry, commerce finance, culture, power, and prestige, therefore Japanese would have the yellow race have industry, commerce, finance, culture power, and prestige, to be equal to the white race. The Chinese for the last forty years have become the white folk 'stooges' of Asia. With all these reasons in mind, I leave you with this question, 'Aren't these sufficient causes, for Japan to make war on China?'" An included photocopy of Ruth's DST certificate of membership shows she was initiated into the sorority on May 26, 1939 and that she was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Chapter, which was the Pittsburgh city-wide chapter for African American women attending college in the area and existed from 1927 to 1971. Two of the photos were taken on her initiation day and show a group of five joyous young women, three of whom are wearing floral wreaths. Three of the photos are small snapshots dated 1949 and are captioned as having been taken in Indianapolis. They almost certainly relate to one of the items of ephemera, a terrific program for the Twenty-Second Midwest Regional Advisory Council, the topic of which was "Human Relations Our Challenge, Our Responsibility. Other ephemera includes an invitation to DST's 1951 Biennial.…