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Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 1867-1957
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Ruth Ann Alexander Papers
SDSU-Archives UA 053.022 · Papers · 1947-2006

The Ruth Ann Alexander Papers document the professional career, research, and public service of Dr. Ruth Ann Alexander, professor of English at South Dakota State University and the first woman to chair its English Department. The collection contains correspondence, course materials, speeches, manuscripts, grant files, and research notes reflecting her work as a teacher, scholar, and advocate for women’s rights. Included are files related to her service on the Brookings School Board, her leadership in developing women’s studies at SDSU, and her involvement in Chautauqua programs where she portrayed Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

The papers also include Alexander’s writings and public lectures on South Dakota women writers, pioneer women, feminism, sexism, and the history of women in the Episcopal Church. Draft manuscripts and published articles illustrate her research on figures such as Elaine Goodale Eastman and Kate Boyles Bingham. Records of her participation in the South Dakota Humanities Council, the South Dakota History Conference, and the Speakers Bureau highlight her contributions to public humanities programming.

Her service on the South Dakota Commission on the Status of Women is well documented through correspondence, reports, task force materials, policy statements, and legislative files, including those related to the Equal Rights Amendment and displaced homemakers legislation. Additional materials reflect her Episcopal Church history work, her writings on parenting and education, and her role as a public intellectual in South Dakota.

This collection is a ressource for understanding the development of women’s studies and feminist scholarship at South Dakota State University, the history of women’s rights and activism in South Dakota, and the broader cultural role of women in education, literature, and the Episcopal Church. It provides researchers with insight into Alexander’s pioneering work in introducing courses on women writers and multicultural literature, her leadership in the women’s movement at both local and statewide levels, and her engagement with public scholarship through Chautauqua, the South Dakota Humanities Council, and community service organizations.

 Alexander, Ruth Ann