CLRC-93 Ruth Adler Papers John Barneson, Christina Cowan and Sharlene Murphy University of Minnesota Libraries 09/30/2004
University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455
EAD 2002 Validated Finding Aid generated with the aid of a custom FileMaker Pro database developed by the staff of the Children's Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries. Many thanks to all the staff and volunteers. 09/30/2004 Description is in English Summary Information University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc] Adler, Ruth Ruth Adler Papers 1955-1967 CLRC-93 Ruth Adler's papers focus on her work as an author and illustrator, with emphasis on the latter, of children's non-fiction books. The collection contains production material for forty-five titles published between 1955-1967. It includes illustrations done in a variety of media many with separations, studies and sketches in a variety of media, separations, overlays, illustrator's dummies, photographs, negatives, photostats, xerox copies, layouts, proofs, some miscellaneous material and notes, and some miscellaneous art work including one sketchbook. Additional material related to Ruth Adler's work may be found in the Irving Adler Collection 6.2 cu ft [16 boxes] See Detailed Descriptions for Each Title Item for Box Locations English Important Information for Users of the Collections Access and Use:

Collection is open for researchers with no restrictions. Registration with the collection is required.

Copyright:

This collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials.

Processing Information

This collection was processed with financial assistance from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Sketch

Ruth Adler was born April 20, 1915 in Sullivan County, New York. She attended Barnard College and graduated with an A.B. in 1935, and received an M.A. from Hunter College in 1959. Ruth Adler taught mathematics, science, and art in various schools in the New York City area from 1950-1960, and later taught mathematics at Bennington College in Vermont from 1961-1962. She began illustrating her husband and frequent collaborator Irving Alder's books in 1955, and later co-authored a number of books with him and did the illustrations for the bulk of these titles. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Adlers produced many books for children about science and mathematics including their "Reason Why" series of books. These books sought to make "difficult and complex" ideas in science and mathematics understandable to young readers. The Adler's believed that children were interested in science and were capable of grasping complex topics if the information was presented in a "straightforward" and "clear" way. Their work was cited by critics and readers for achieving these aims and helping children appreciate the world of science and mathematics and how both could affect their lives in the rapidly changing world that depends so much on technology. Ruth Adler died on March 30, 1968.

 Scope and Content

The collection contains production material for forty-five titles published between 1955 and 1967. It includes illustrations done in a variety of media many with separations, studies and sketches in a variety of media, photostats, xerox copies, layouts, proofs, and some miscellaneous material and notes, and some miscellaneous art work including one sketchbook. Additional material related to Ruth Adler's work may be found in the Irving Adler Collection.

 Indexing Terms

The collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Adler, Ruth Accession Information:

This collection was given to the Children's Literature Research Collection by Ruth Adler and her husband and collaborator Irving Adler in several installments between 1965-1968. After Ruth Adler's death in 1968, Irving Adler added additional material in 1968-1969.

Gift of: Adler, Ruth

Arrangement

Air, 1962

Atoms and Molecules, 1966

Calendar, The, 1967

Coal, 1965

Color in Your Life, 1962

Communication, 1967

Dust, 1958

Earth's Crust, The, 1963

Electricity In Your Life, 1965

Electronics, 1961

Elementary Mathematics of the Atom, The, 1965

Evolution, 1965

Fibers, 1964

Fire in Your Life, 1955

Heat, 1964

Houses, 1964

How Life Began, 1957

Hurricanes and Twisters, 1955

Insects and Plants, 1962

Irrigations: Changing Deserts into Gardens, 1964

Logic for Beginners Through Games, Jokes, and Puzzles, 1964

Machines, 1964

Magic Houses of Numbers, 1957

Magnets, 1966

Monkey Business: Hoaxes in the Name of Science, 1957

Numerals, New Dresses for Old Numbers, 1957

Oceans, 1963

Probability and Statistics for Everyman: How to..., 1963

Rivers, 1961

Seeing the Earth from Space: What the Man-Made Moons, 1959

Sets, 1967

Shadows, 1961

Stars, The: Steppingstones into Space, 1956

Storms, 1963

Story of a Nail, The, 1961

Sun and Its Family, The, 1958

Taste, Touch and Smell, 1966

Time in Your Life, 1955

Tools in Your Life, 1956

Tools of Science, The: From Yardstick to Cyclotron, 1958

Tree Products, 1961

Volcanoes and Earthquakes, 1962

Why?: A Book of Reasons, 1961

Why and How?: A Second Book of Reasons, 1963

Your Eyes, 1962

Miscellaneous,

Collection Contents Air 1962 MC 917 original black and white pencil illustrations on acetate with color separations and some with text proof paste up 29 p. Atoms and Molecules 1966 MC 917 pencil illustrations with separations 16 p. MC 917 pencil illustrations 7 p. MC 917 tempera and colored acetate jacket study 1 p. MC 917 separations 20 p. MC 917 illustration proof for jacket with 2 separations and text layout 1 p. MC 917 partial layouts 2 p. Calendar, The 1967 MC 917 pencil and ink illustrator's dummy with typescript 47 p. MC 917 ink and acetate illustration for jacket with 1 separation 1 p. MC 917 ink and acetate jacket study with 1 separation 1 p. MC 917 pencil illustrations on dynobase 11 p. MC 917 ink illustrations with 2 separations 4 p. MC 917 ink illustrations with 1 separation 12 p. MC 917 black and white photographs 4 p. MC 917 illustration proof with 1 separation 1 p. Coal 1965 MC 918 pencil and photograph illustration dummy with typescript 148 p. MC 918 ink and pencil illustrations with color separations 21 p. MC 918 black and white photographs 34 p. MC 918 negatives 18 p. MC 918 xerox illustration with layout 1 p. MC 918 photostats and proofs 17 p. MC 918 text proofs for p. 47 2 p. MC 918 miscellaneous item 1 p. Color in Your Life 1962 MC 918 pencil, ink and crayon sketches 33 p. MC 918 illustration proofs 2 p. MC 918 color sample sheet 1 p. MC 918 illustrator's notes 9 p. MC 918 color separations 9 p. MC 918 ink illustrations 39 p. Communication 1967 MC 918 tempera and ink jacket study 1 p. MC 918 pencil illustrations 8 p. MC 918 sets of overlay instructions 6 p. MC 918 ink jacket study with 2 separations 1 p. MC 918 black and white photographs 19 p. MC 918 page illustration proof 1 p. MC 918 xerox copy 1 p. MC 918 newsletter cutout 1 p. Dust 1958 MC 919 ink drawings 40 p. MC 919 pencil sketches 32 p. Earth's Crust, The 1963 MC 919 crayon and pencil illustrator's dummy with text proof paste up 48 p. MC 919 acetate sheets [3 pencil illustrations] with text proof and 3 separations 2 p. MC 919 acetate sheets [7 pencil illustrations] with text proof and 2 separations 4 p. MC 919 acetate sheets [15 pencil illustrations] with text proof and 1 separation 11 p. MC 919 acetate sheet [2 separations] 1 p. MC 919 photograph illustrations 2 p. Electricity In Your Life 1965 MC 919 jacket layout with 2 separations 1 p. MC 919 pencil, ink and crayon illustrator's dummy with typescript 123 p. MC 919 ink illustrations and overlays 174 p. MC 919 color separations 10 p. MC 919 pencil illustrations on dynobase 71 p. MC 919 photographs 18 p. Electronics 1961 MC 1306 ink illustrations with text proof paste-up 53 p. MC 1306 pencil and ink sketches 57 p. MC 1306 typescript for captions 7 p. MC 1306 pages of illustrator's notes and sketches 33 p. Elementary Mathematics of the Atom, The 1965 MC 1306 photostats of illustrations 79 p. MC 1306 ink illustrations 31 p. MC 1306 illustrator's notes 37 p. MC 1306 periodic table 1 p. MC 1306 paste-up with text for jacket 1 p. MC 1306 jacket mock-up 1 p. Evolution 1965 MC 1308 illustrator's dummy 1 p. MC 1308 ink illustration for jacket with 2 separations 1 p. MC 1308 ink illustrations 30 p. MC 1308 pencil drawings 22 p. MC 1308 photographs and negatives 6 p. MC 1308 pencil diagrams 2 p. MC 1308 colored paper and tempera jacket study 1 p. MC 1308 pencil sketches 9 p. MC 1308 pencil and ink captions 5 p. MC 1308 set page proof 1 p. MC 1308 sheets miscellaneous proof 5 p. MC 1308 miscellaneous item 1 p. Fibers 1964 MC 1311 page proof 47 p. MC 1311 illustrator's dummy with text proof 1 p. MC 1311 pencil and ink captions 21 p. MC 1311 photographs 3 p. MC 1311 pencil illustrations 13 p. MC 1311 pencil and ink illustrations with 1 separation 6 p. MC 1311 pencil and ink illustrations with 2 separations 3 p. MC 1311 pencil illustration with text proof 1 p. MC 1311 ink illustrations with 2 separations and text proof 2 p. MC 1311 ink separation 1 p. Fire in Your Life 1955 MC 1311 ink drawings 48 p. MC 1311 miscellaneous 1 p. Heat 1964 MC 1311 crayon and pencil illustrator's dummy with text proof 47 p. MC 1311 pencil illustration with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1311 pencil illustrations 21 p. Houses 1964 MC 1310 pencil and ink illustrator's dummy with corrected text proof paste up 48 p. MC 1310 ink illustration with 3 separations 1 p. MC 1310 ink illustrations with 2 separations 2 p. MC 1310 pencil illustration with 2 separations 1 p. MC 1310 ink illustration with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1310 pencil illustration with 1 separation 4 p. MC 1310 ink and pencil illustration 1 p. MC 1310 ink illustrations2 2 p. MC 1310 pencil illustrations 15 p. MC 1310 photograph illustrations 3 p. MC 1310 sheets of ink sketches 11 p. MC 1310 captions 1 p. MC 1310 text proof with notes 1 p. How Life Began 1957 MC 1310 illustration proofs 7 p. MC 1310 crayon and pencil sketches 33 p. MC 1310 ink diagrams 19 p. MC 1310 negative 1 p. Hurricanes and Twisters 1955 MC 1310 ink illustrations 25 p. Insects and Plants 1962 MC 1308 pencil illustrator's dummy with text proof paste up and notes 48 p. MC 1308 acetate sheet [6 pencil illustrations] and 3 separations 1 p. MC 1308 acetate sheets [6 pencil illustrations] and 2 separations 2 p. MC 1308 acetate sheets [6 pencil illustrations] and 1 separation 3 p. MC 1308 pencil illustration with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1308 acetate sheets [with 17 pencil illustrations] 5 p. MC 1308 photographs 7 p. MC 1308 sheets of pencil sketches [15 sketches total] 14 p. Irrigations: Changing Deserts into Gardens 1964 MC 1308 ink and or colored pencil drawings on acetate with color separations 37 p. Logic for Beginners Through Games, Jokes, and Puzzles 1964 MC 1315 dummy 160 p. MC 1315 pencil and ink sketches 82 p. MC 1315 ink illustrations 102 p. MC 1315 color separations 5 p. MC 1315 photostats of illustrations 4 p. MC 1315 miscellaneous correspondence 1 p. Machines 1964 MC 1315 illustrator's dummy with text proof and original pencil and crayon sketches 47 p. MC 1315 miscellaneous sheet 1 p. MC 1315 page blue proof 48 p. MC 1315 miscellaneous notes 4 p. MC 1315 caption proof 6 p. MC 1315 photographs 2 p. MC 1315 original pencil illustrations 35 p. MC 1315 original ink illustrations 34 p. MC 1315 original pencil and ink captions [stuck together[ 27 p. MC 1315 set page proof 1 p. Magic Houses of Numbers 1957 MC 1316 stencil layouts 2 p. MC 1316 pencil sketches 10 p. MC 1316 ink illustrations 31 p. MC 1316 proof of illustrations 2 p. Magnets 1966 MC 1316 tempera jacket study with 1 ink separation 1 p. MC 1316 ink illustration for jacket with 2 separations and layout 1 p. MC 1316 photographs 6 p. MC 1316 pencil illustrations 34 p. MC 1316 ink drawings for separations 41 p. MC 1316 notes and sketches 7 p. Monkey Business: Hoaxes in the Name of Science 1957 MC 1316 pencil sketches 29 p. MC 1316 pen and pencil sketches 2 p. MC 1316 pencil layouts 3 p. MC 1316 ink illustrations [some with text paste up] 27 p. Numerals, New Dresses for Old Numbers 1957 MC 1332 illustrator's dummy with text proof and notes in ink 147 p. MC 1332 illustrator's dummy with text proof and notes in pencil 148 p. MC 1332 crayon and tempera jacket study with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1332 ink illustration for jacket with text proof and tissue overlay with notes 1 p. MC 1332 pencil drawing 1 p. MC 1332 ink illustrations with color separations 61 p. MC 1332 sheets proof 5 p. MC 1332 illustrator's notes 1 p. Oceans 1963 MC 1332 text layout 9 p. MC 1332 sheets of ink and pencil illustrations 23 p. Probability and Statistics for Everyman: How to... 1963 MC 1332 ink illustrations with text proof 45 p. MC 1332 ink and pencil dummy 1 p. MC 1332 sheet notes 1 p. MC 1332 proofs 45 p. MC 1332 text proofs of index 2 p. MC 1332 xerox sheets 2 p. Rivers 1961 MC 1305 sheets of pencil and ink illustrations with separations 14 p. MC 1305 captions 12 p. MC 1305 photographs 17 p. Seeing the Earth from Space: What the Man-Made Moons 1959 MC 1305 ink illustrations [some with typescript paste up] 55 p. MC 1305 ink and pencil sketches 48 p. Sets 1967 MC 1305 tempera jacket study with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1305 layout for jacket with 1 separation 1 p. MC 1305 illustrator's dummy with text proof 1 p. MC 1305 pages of text proof 14 p. MC 1305 photostat 1 p. MC 1305 sheets ink illustration and separations 28 p. Shadows 1961 MC 1335 black and white photographs 2 p. MC 1335 pencil illustrations on acetate with color separations indicated 18 p. MC 1335 text proof overlays with color separations indicated 10 p. MC 1335 pencil and colored pencil sketch for jacket 1 p. Stars, The: Steppingstones into Space 1956 MC 1304 proof paste-up dummy 128 p. MC 1304 ink illustrations 103 p. MC 1304 photograph illustrations 34 p. MC 1304 diagrams 2 p. Storms 1963 MC 1335 color overlays [3 for pp36 and 2 for title page] 5 p. MC 1335 photostat of snowflake design 1 p. MC 1335 envelope with 7 individual snowflakes 1 p. MC 1335 notes 3 p. MC 1335 black and white pencil and/or ink illustrations and separations [some with text proof] 55 p. Story of a Nail, The 1961 MC 1304 pencil illustrations 17 p. MC 1304 colored pencil separation 1 p. MC 1304 pencil illustration 19 p. MC 1304 magic marker, ink and tempera jacket study 1 p. MC 1304 photograph 1 p. MC 1304 layout for illustrations 17 p. MC 1304 miscellaneous 1 p. Sun and Its Family, The 1958 MF 1333 ink drawings 34 p. MF 1333 pencil sketches 36 p. MF 1333 miscellaneous sheets of proof 12 p. Taste, Touch and Smell 1966 MF 1333 mixed-media jacket illustration 1 p. MF 1333 ink and acetate illustration for jacket with 2 separations 1 p. MF 1333 ink paste-up with 3 separations 1 p. MF 1333 tempera and acetate jacket study with 1 separation 1 p. MF 1333 pencil illustrations 17 p. MF 1333 pencil illustrations 9 p. MF 1333 pencil illustrations 10 p. MF 1333 pencil illustrations 5 p. MF 1333 acetate separation 1 p. MF 1333 photographs 4 p. MF 1333 text proof 1 p. MF 1333 sample type 4 p. Time in Your Life 1955 MF 1333 ink illustrations 60 p. Tools in Your Life 1956 MF 1334 pages of suggested illustrations in pencil 6 p. MF 1334 ink drawings 41 p. MF 1334 black drawing on waxed paper 1 p. MF 1334 miscellaneous 1 p. Tools of Science, The: From Yardstick to Cyclotron 1958 MF 1334 pencil sketches 30 p. MF 1334 photographs 6 p. MF 1334 copies of prints 3 p. MF 1334 ink illustrations 23 p. Tree Products 1961 MF 1334 pencil drawings on acetate 19 p. MF 1334 pencil drawings on white paper 8 p. MF 1334 photograph illustration for jacket 1 p. MF 1334 photograph illustration with 1 separation 1 p. MF 1334 photograph layout with 2 separations 1 p. MF 1334 photographs 32 p. Volcanoes and Earthquakes 1962 MF 1335 pencil sketches 20 p. MF 1335 ink sketches 6 p. MF 1335 ink illustrations some with text 15 p. MF 1335 negative for photo section of book 1 p. MF 1335 photo proofs 10 p. MF 1335 pages of proof of illustrations 5 p. MF 1335 miscellaneous notes Why?: A Book of Reasons 1961 MF 1336 pencil drawings on acetate 15 p. MF 1336 overlays with text proof 5 p. Why and How?: A Second Book of Reasons 1963 MF 1336 ink illustrations on acetate 74 p. MF 1336 photograph 1 p. MF 1336 dummy with pencil illustrations and text proof paste-up 1 p. Your Eyes 1962 MF 1336 pencil illustrator's dummy with text proof and notes 48 p. MF 1336 ink illustration with text proof and 3 separations 1 p. MF 1336 ink illustration with text proof and 2 separations 6 p. MF 1336 ink illustration with text proof and 1 separation 4 p. MF 1336 ink illustration with text proof 3 p. MF 1336 photographs 6 p. MF 1336 sheets with 4 crayon and pencil sketches 3 p. MF 1336 sheets with 11 pencil sketches 7 p. MF 1336 pencil illustration 1 p. MF 1336 text proofs 2 p. MF 1336 braille alphabet 1 p. MF 1336 note about author 1 p. Miscellaneous MF 1335 pencil and ink sketchbook [ideas for Time in Your Life, Fire in Your Life, Tools in Your Life, and Hurricanes and Twisters] 39 p. MF 1335 pencil sketches 51 p. MF 1335 folder with notes [by Ruth or Irving Adler] 1 p.