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Rocky Mountain Online ArchiveTable of ContentsBox and Folder List Subseries 2: Civic Organizations Series II: Clippings, Mailings, Publications |
Ruth Banning Lewis, Papers,[1906] - 1953Special Collections in the 1905 Carnegie Library, Pikes Peak Library DistrictEmail: http://www.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/SpecialCollectionsContact.aspURL: http://www.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/default.asp ©2005 Pikes Peak Library District
BiographyRuth Banning was born July 11, 1892 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to William Marion and Elizabeth Anne Banning. She graduated from Colorado Springs High School in 1910 and Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College in 1915. Returning to Colorado Springs, Ruth taught English at Colorado College for one year. Ruth's father, William Marion Banning, was the owner of the Union Ice and Coal Company and the Banning Ranch. When he died in 1914, the operations of the company and the ranch were assumed by Ruth's brother, William. Upon William's death in 1916, Ruth Banning took over as manager of the ranch and Union Ice and Coal. She quickly organized and became president of the Consumers Ice Delivery Company and was the first women to serve on the executive board of the Mountain States Ice Manufacturer's Association. Elizabeth Banning died in July of 1921, leaving Ruth without immediate family. In September of that year she married Raymond W. Lewis, a Colorado College graduate and ranch owner from Fowler, Colorado. In January of 1922, Ruth Banning Lewis purchased ten head of registered heifers, declaring that she intended to make Colorado Springs known for purebred Herefords, and in 1924 Ruth sold her ice and coal businesses to devote more time to cattle ranching. By 1927 she and Raymond had formed the Banning-Lewis Ranches and began buying what would eventually be over 30,000 acres for their prize winning Hereford operation. Banning-Lewis Ranches had the champion bull, Prince Domino 101st, at the American Hereford Association's Golden Jubilee Show in Kansas City in 1932. In addition to time spent raising cattle and horses, Ruth Banning Lewis participated in numerous civic activities and organizations. She was one of the founding members of the Girl Scouts Council in Colorado Springs and was an organizer of the Pikes Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross Volunteer Nurse's Aid Corps. In 1923 she was elected to the Board of Education for District #11 and served as its president from 1927 until her resignation in 1934. Lewis was the first woman elected to the Board of the National American Hereford Association and was on the Board of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the Drama League, and the Visiting Nurse's Association. From 1943 to 1947 she served on the Colorado Springs City Council. Ruth Banning Lewis died on November 19, 1962 at her home in the Broadmoor Hotel after an extended illness. She was survived by her husband. They had no children. ArrangementThis collection has been divided into two series, Personal Papers and Clippings, Mailings, Publications. Series I, Personal Papers, has been divided into two subseries, Schoolwork and Civic Organizations. Within series and subseries files have been arranged alphabetically and then chronologically. Materials from the Volunteer Nurse's Aide Corps were removed from their original letterbooks but have been maintained in their original order. A number of annual reports from the Colorado Springs Department of Public Health and Sanitation, annual financial reports from the City of Colorado Springs, and Colorado College yearbooks were removed from this collection but can be found with the published materials in the Pikes Peak Library District's Special Collections. Two framed photographs of Ruth Banning Lewis were transferred to the Photograph Archives.
Subseries I: Schoolwork Subseries II: Civic Organizations
Scope and ContentThis collection has been arranged into two series - Personal Papers and Clippings, Mailings, Publications. Subseries 1 (Schoolwork) of Series I (Personal Papers) consists of notes taken and papers submitted by Ruth Banning during her coursework at Lowell School in Colorado Springs and at Wellesley College. Subseries 2 (Civic Organizations) contains clippings, correspondence, reports, meeting minutes and some pamphlets from Ruth Banning Lewis' time on District Eleven's Board of Education, the Colorado Springs City Council, and as chairman of the local Volunteer Nurse's Aide Corps. Series II (Clippings, Mailings and Publications) primarily contains newspaper articles, bulk mailings, leaflets, brochures and pamphlets of a political nature. The majority of these materials have an anti-tax , anti-liberal and /or anti-Communist tone. Also in this series is a run of the Intelligence Digest. RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThe collection is open for research. Copy RestrictionsThe researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection. Preferred CitationRuth Banning Lewis Papers, [1906]-1953. MSS 0109. Special Collections in the 1905 Carnegie Library, Pikes Peak Library District, P.O. Box 1579, Colorado Springs, CO, 80901. Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Donna McCrea in Spring, 2002. Separated MaterialThere are no separated materials. Related MaterialBanning-Lewis Ranches Records. MSS 0098. Pikes Peak Library District. Also, two framed photographs of Ruth Banning Lewis were transferred to the Photograph Archives. Subject HeadingsColorado Springs School District No. 11 Intelligence Digest [Publication] Nurse's aides - Colorado - Pikes Peak Region Red Cross - Colorado - Pikes Peak Region School Districts - Colorado - Colorado Springs Lewis, Ruth Banning (1892-1962) Box and Folder ListSeries I: Personal PapersSubseries 1: Schoolwork
Subseries 2: Civic Organizations
Series II: Clippings, Mailings, Publications
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