Ruth Stimson Scrapbooks, 1643-1999

Collection number: MC 215 [Stored Offsite]
Size: 126 scrapbooks and 1 box (8.00 cu.ft.)

About Ruth Stimson (1919-2004)

Ruth G. Stimson graduated from UNH in 1940 with a degree in Home Economics. She joined the Cooperative Extension as a Home Demonstration Agent-at-Large. Shortly after, she was assigned to the Rockingham County Office where she worked until she retired in 1982. She was a resident of Hampton, New Hampshire and was a talented artist, passionate environmentalist, educator, community leader, and expert gardener. Stimson was a member of several organizations including the Hampton Garden Club and Historical Society and she compiled numerous scrapbooks of pamphlets, newspaper clippings and ephemera related to her various interests.

About the Ruth Stimson Scrapbooks

The scrapbooks were created by Ruth G. Stimson and documented her life and service to Rockingham County, the town of Hampton, the Seacoast area and the state of New Hampshire. Of particular interest may be the scrapbooks that document the checkered career of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant from the 1970s until her death in 2004.

Read Ruth Stimson’s obituary

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection is open.

This collection is in storage: 48 hours advance notice is required for use.

Copyright Notice

Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Ruth Stimson Scrapbooks, 1643-1999, MC 215, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Donation: Ruth Stimson, January 18, 2002 and August 8, 2002 (Accession number: 2002.02, 2002.24)

Related Material

UA 22/86: Chronology of Events Significant to the Cooperative Extension Service and Its Clients Volumes, 1906-1982 (UNH Archives)

UA 14/3/2: NH Cooperative Extension Service Personnel Scrapbooks, 1914-1982 (UNH Archives)

Collection Contents

Series 1: Family Histories, 1643-1999

(20 scrapbooks)

Each of the following scrapbooks contain a detailed table of contents written by Ruth Stimson. The content listings shown here are only a small portion of what is included in these scrapbooks.

Item 1		Sumner Family Genealogy: 1643-1901; including letters, birth, death, marriage certificates, confederate paper money, pictures and personal notes of identification
Item 2		Genealogy and life of Pauline Sumner Howard: 1902-1919 until her marriage to Raymond Edward Stimson
Item 3		Stimson Genealogy: 1645-1917 including deeds, glass negatives, etc.
Item 4		Family life of Raymond, Pauline and Ruth Stimson: 1919-1936 including Ruth’s baby book, school and girl scout events
Item 5-6		1932 trip made by Pauline (Ruth’s mother) to Europe while on summer vacation from teaching including letters, postcards and speech notes
Item 7		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1919-1940 including pictures, report cards, correspondence, girl scout letters and awards, newspaper clippings, UNH and Extension experiences
Item 8		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson, 1940-1947, including teaching certificate, articles about Woodsville, NH (where she was teaching), 1942 Rockingham County Extension certificates, correspondence and WW II Ration booklets, certificates and checks
Item 9		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1948-1962 including a 1962 copyright on a piece of her art work, Extension paperwork, Hampton Garden Club correspondence and an outline of her trip to Alaska
Item 10		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1962-1976 including information on the Hampton Garden Club, Hampton Marsh Preservation, Hampton Mosquito Control Commission and a letter for Gov. John King
Item 11		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1976-1987 including information on the Hampton Garden Club, Hampton Marsh Preservation, Hampton Mosquito Control Commission, birthday cards and retirement from the Rockingham County Extension
Item 12		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1987-1990 including 100th birthday of Pauline, birthday wishes from President Reagan, Senator Warren Rudman, Governor Sununu and insights into her activities since her retirement
Item 13		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1990-1992 including her mother Pauline’s death in 1991 and retirement activities till 1992
Item 14		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1948-1963, her life in Rockingham County Home Demonstration activities, correspondence, pictures of Home Demonstration Classes, newspaper articles, examples of TV scripts for WENH channel 11 in 1961
Item 15		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1964-1976, tells of her work for Home Demonstration, Extension notes, pamphlets given out by the Extension & Home Demo., reference to several of Camp Anita Activities
Item 16		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1977-1980, correspondence with other County Home Demonstration groups, performance evaluation forms and of Ruth receiving the USDA Superior Service Award at a ceremony in Washington, DC
Item 17		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1981-1993, was on National Extension Homemakers Council in 1981, retired in 1982, articles on her retirement, after her retirement she was charter member of the AARP, guest speaker throughout the area
Item 18		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1993-1995, notes on where she was guest speaker, places she visited with friends, correspondence from Senators Judd Gregg and Bob Smith and Representative Zeliff, her work on trying to stop unwanted mail, notes on her work at NH Farm museum, Hampton Library, High School Reunion, Hampton Garden Club
Item 19		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1995-1997, NH Outstanding Municipal Volunteer Award for 1995, speech made to Dover 4-H, correspondence to Hampton School Board
Item 20		Autobiography of Ruth G. Stimson: 1998-1999, an invitation to be in the 21st edition of Who’s Who in America. Kappa Delta Sorority of UNH elected Ruth into its Emerald Circle after 60 years of membership, member of UNH President’s Council, correspondence from political figures

Series 2: Rockingham Craftsmen in New Hampshire, 1966-1994

(4 scrapbooks)

The first scrapbook begins by giving a brief history of the beginning and the reason for the formation of a group to be known as the Rockingham County Craftsmen. This scrapbook and the rest of the scrapbooks in this series begin with a table of contents, listing things such as membership applications and forms, membership lists, lists of products and services, newspaper articles and pictures, pictures of craft fairs and workshops, copies of standards of workmanship, copies of magazine articles and correspondence.

Item 21		Rockingham County Craftsmen in New Hampshire, 1966-1971
Item 22		Rockingham County Craftsmen in New Hampshire, 1972-1976
Item 23		Rockingham County Craftsmen in New Hampshire, 1977-1986
Item 24		Rockingham County Craftsmen in New Hampshire, 1987-1994

Series 3: Seabrook Station, 1968-1990

(9 scrapbooks)

The Seabrook Station scrapbooks primarily consist of newspaper articles, editorials, maps and photos from various newspapers, which include The Manchester Union Leader, The Portsmouth Herald, The Hampton Union, Foster’s Daily Democrat, The Haverhill Gazette, Bordertown News, The Portland Press Herald and The Boston Globe. These scrapbooks include articles from a variety of magazines, including New Hampshire Profiles, Readers Digest, and Life. There are ads for New Hampshire Public Service, booklets (distributed by Seabrook Station), Seacoast Anti-Pollution League Newsletters, booklets from the American Nuclear Society and the American Society for Testing & Materials Standardization. Each scrapbook has a table of contents that provides titles for the articles.

Item 25		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1968-1972
Item 26		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1973-1984
Item 27		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1985-1986
Item 28		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, Jan-Sept 1, 1987
Item 29		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, Sept 2-Dec 1987
Item 30		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1966-1971
Item 31		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1988
Item 32		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, Jan-June 12, 1989
Item 33		Seabrook Station, Rockingham County, 1990

Series 4: Mosquito Control Scrapebooks & Publications, 1956-1998

(7 scrapbooks and 6 publications)

Primarily because of Ruth Stimson’s efforts, the state of New Hampshire created the law allowing mosquito control districts in 1965. In 1975, Hampton’s Mosquito Control Commission was established with Ms. Stimson first as a member and later as chair, from 1978-1989. The scrapbooks in this series document this history.

Item 34		Hampton Mosquito Control District, 1956-1975
Item 35		Hampton Mosquito Control District, 1976-1978
Item 36		Hampton Mosquito Control District, 1981-1984
Item 37		Hampton Mosquito Control District, 1985-1990
Item 38		Hampton Mosquito Commission, 1979-1998
Item 39		Mosquito Control in Hampton, NH and other Coastal towns, 1956-1978, with Rockingham County Extension Service
Item 40		Rockingham County Mosquito Control 1977-1979
Item 41		Salt Marshes of New Hampshire
Item 42		Report of the Status of Black Fly, Mosquito, Other Biting ARthropods & Arthorpod-Borne Disease Problems in NH with Proposals for Research & Control Programs
Item 43		Extension Service Handbook for Mosquito Control Districts
Item 44		Report Detailing the Rye Salt Marsh Management Pilot Study for Mosquito Prevention & Marsh Rejuvinations
Item 45		Follow-up Report Detailing Implementation of the Rye Salt Marsh Management Pilot Study
Item 46		Soil Survey, Rockingham County, NH

Series 5: Hampton Marsh Conservation and Municipal Development Authority, 1959-1975

(3 scrapbooks)

Scrapbooks 47 and 49 have a foreword giving a short overview of the contents. Again as in other scrapbooks in the collection, they are made up of newspaper articles, pamphlets, photos, drawings, maps and correspondence.

Item 47		Hampton Development Authority 1959-1973 and Hampton Marsh Conservation Program 1962-1965
Item 48		Hampton Conservation Commission 1965-1975
Item 49		News Articles by Hampton Conservation Committee and Hampton Municipal Development Authority (Part 1 1960-1964) and Hampton Conservation Commission News Articles (Part 2 1965-1975)

Series 6: Scrapbooks on the History of New Hampshire

(70 scrapbooks)

Item 50-56		New Hampshire Mountains; Mount Washington; Notches
Item 57-70		Town Histories for Rockingham County
Item 71		Information of Rockingham County and the USA Bicentennial
Item 72		USA Consistution Bicentennial
Item 73-77		Histories of Taverns, Public Houses, and Tourist Industry
Item 78-80		History of Portsmouth and Strawbery Banke
Item 81-84		Maritime Activities of Portsmouth
Item 85		Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, US Coast Guard, Isle of Shoals
Item 86-87		Isels of Shoals and New Hampshire Marine Resources
Item 88-105		Histories of the Towns in Each County
Item 106-107		Churches in Rockingham County
Item 108-110		Other New Hampshire Churches and other religions
Item 111-113		Letters of Mary Keddie Smillie Burnside
Item 114-115		Reviews of Old Rockingham by Roland D. Sawyer
Item 116		History of Covered Brides in New Hampshire
Item 117		New Hampshire Educational Developments
Item 118		Information on the Shakers
Item 119		New Hampshire's Water Resources
Item 120		Clippings on Captain Harl Pease, Jr., Pease Air Force Base, Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Base Deactivation, New Hampshire Air National Guard, Pease International Tradeport 1989-2003

Series 7: Miscellaneous History Publications

(1 box)

Box 1
Box 1, Item 1		Dainty Dishes for the Queen by Scottish Education Department
Box 1, Item 2		What to Eat in Wartime by Dugald Semple
Box 1, Item 3		The Single Burner Chef Cookbook by Deborah L. Craig
Box 1, Item 4		The English Townsman by Thomas Burke
Box 1, Item 5		Travel in England by Thomas Burke
Box 1, Item 6		Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1863
Box 1, Item 7		Souvenir book: This is Britain
Box 1, Item 8		Souvenir book: Dear Old London
Box 1, Item 9		The Faces of Hampton by Ralph Morang
Box 1, Item 10		Official Souvenir Program: Winnacunnet's 350th Anniversary of Hampton, NH
Box 1, Item 11		Official Souvenir Program: 350 Years of History, an Exhibition at Lamont Gallery, Exeter, NH
Box 1, Item 12		Exeter and Hampton Electric Company's Historical Review, Exeter, NH
Box 1, Item 13		75th Anniversary of NH Town and City, Jan 1996 Outstanding Municipal Volunteer Award Winners
Box 1, Item 14		The Granite State Sampler, images chronicling NH state history and government (disc)

Series 8: Genealogies and Early New Hampshire History, 1623-1700

(6 scrapbooks)

Item 121		NH Inn Keepers and Ferrymen in 1600s
Item 122		Earliest Colonists on NH Side of the Piscataqua River
Item 123		Human Story of the People of the Shoals and Hampton, NH in the 1600s
Item 124		People of the Isles of the Shoals in the 1600s
Item 125		Biographies of Individuals who Settled Dover, NH, 1623-1700
Item 126		Biographies of Individuals Who Settled Exeter, NH, 1638-1700