IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
RUTH LAUGHLIN (1954-1986)
SUBTITLE:»
PAPERS, 1956-1997
3.35 linear feet
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no.
264) were donated by Lois and Don Laughlin in 1999. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open
for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright held by the donors has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In Box 8 |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Lori Muntz, 2000. [LaughlinRuth.doc] |
Biography
Ruth Laughlin, an advocate for social justice, was
born on July 25, 1954, in Iowa City, Iowa. Laughlin attended public elementary
schools and attended high school at the
Scattergood Friends School in West Branch, Iowa, from which she
graduated in 1972. As a young
adult, Laughlin worked as an
apple-picker with the Young Friends of North America and was a member of
Amnesty International. Laughlin moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the
fall of 1978. In the summer of 1983
Laughlin married Ben Kazina, an African immigrant. Kazina returned to Africa and was killed in a café bombing
approximately three years after their marriage.
Laughlin completed her undergraduate education in
1984 by earning a B.A. summa cum laude
in urban studies from Temple University. While in Philadelphia, Laughlin also
devoted her time and intellect to many advocacy projects: she lived in cooperative housing sponsored by the
Movement for a New Society (MNS), contributed to and helped produce the COMMUNITY activist newsletter, and was
employed by the Quaker publication Friends
Journal. Laughlin also
participated in organizations such as the Coalition on the Utility Crisis and
the Workers’ Rights Law Project.
Laughlin crafted a diverse advocacy that included resistance to class-,
gender-, and race-based oppressions and participation in anti-nuclear
organizations and the peace movement.
Ruth Laughlin was raped and murdered in her apartment in Philadelphia on
May 29, 1986.
Scope and
Content Note
The Ruth Laughlin papers date from 1956? to 1997 and measure 3.35 linear feet. The papers
are arranged in thirteen series: Personal
Documents, Education, Religion, Personal Correspondence,
COMMUNITY, Financial
Accounts, Employment, Diaries, Death, Tafataono P.
Mahoso, Political and religious essays and articles, Poetry,
and Photographs. As Ruth’s
mother Lois Laughlin writes in the Introduction to the Diaries, the
material in this collection tells “the
feelings of a young woman of the turbulent mid-years of th[e] twentieth century
when the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, and the feminist movement had
massive impact on the behavior and attitudes of just about everybody and every
institution” of American society.
The Personal Documents (1965-1985) include Laughlin’s passport, birth
certificate, eye donation card, and 1981 calendar.
The Education series (1960-1985) includes grade reports, teacher assessments
of Laughlin, and Laughlin’s poetry and other writings. Laughlin’s concern with and efforts to
attain the ideal feminine body are evidenced in the earliest writings of this
series. Also included in the Education series are Laughlin’s college
notes and writings concerning her formal study of Marxism and her creative
writing.
The Religion series (1964-1982) concerns primarily the Young Friends of
North America. This material
demonstrates Laughlin’s growing network
of friends, some of whom she met while working with the apple picking crews in
Ohio. The correspondence reflects
Laughlin’s desire and attempts to establish intimate relationships.
The Personal
Correspondence series (1971-1986) includes four subseries: Family, Friends,
Life Center and Movement for a New Society, and Political Action. The correspondence for the Family series is
arranged chronologically by Incoming and Outgoing categories. The Friends series is arranged
alphabetically by friend, with incoming and outgoing correspondence together in
the same folder. Of particular
interest may be Laughlin’s correspondence with friends Brigitta Jecko and Thilo
Weichert, whose communications discuss the international peace and anti-nuclear
movements. George Clayton was a prison
inmate with whom Laughlin corresponded. Throughout the Family and Friends
subseries Laughlin’s interest in social justice and her attempts to set and
achieve personal goals in terms of education, personal relationships, and
self-awareness are all evidenced. Together
with the material in the Diaries series, Laughlin’s
correspondence indicates her constant introspection concerning her need to
establish a value system. Laughlin
cohabited with Tafataona P. Mahoso, and their correspondence is included within
the Friends subseries; Mahoso’s correspondence with Laughlin’s mother Lois
subsequent to Laughlin’s murder is held in the Death series. Laughlin was briefly married to Ben Kazina, an
African immigrant; his cards to her are included in the Friends subseries; her
poem written upon his murder is in the Poetry
series. The Political Action subseries of the Personal Correspondence series includes material concerning the
United States’ intervention in El Salvador, coffee plantation workers in
Nicaragua, and Laughlin’s refusal to pay income tax.
The COMMUNITY series (1981 and undated)
contains press releases concerning Karen Silkwood, as well as three issues of COMMUNITY: Philadelphia’s Progressive Newspaper, in which Laughlin’s articles
were published.
The Financial
Accounts series (1984-1985 and
undated) is comprised of several checkbook registers.
The Employment
series (1984 and undated) includes personal
assessments written by Laughlin about herself, others’ assessments of
her skills and abilities, results of aptitude tests, and résumés.
The Diaries
series (1970-1986) together with the Personal
Correspondence comprise the bulk of the collection. The Diaries
series contains an introduction and index prepared by Laughlin’s mother,
Lois Laughlin. The Introduction, Index,
and Excerpts folder contains a list of Laughlin’s immediate family and excerpts
from the diaries selected by Lois Laughlin.
Throughout the Diaries
Laughlin meditates upon her self-image, her role within her family, the place
of activist concerns such as feminism in her life, her sexual relationships,
and her attempts at establishing personal relationships. The earliest diaries discuss diet and
physical appearance. Anti-nuclear
protests at Seabrook are discussed in the March - June 1980 diary.
The Death series (1986-1997) includes three files: Newspaper
Clippings that report on Laughlin’s murder, Memorials and Obituaries, and
Condolence Correspondence. Because of
the duration of the correspondence between Lois Laughlin and Tafataona P.
Mahoso that was initiated by Laughlin’s death, that correspondence has been
filed separately in a series entitled Tafataona
P. Mahoso.
The series for Tafataona
P. Mahoso (1981-1992) includes
Mahoso’s correspondence with Ruth Laughlin and his correspondence with Ruth’s
mother Lois Laughlin. The latter
correspondence treats Mahoso’s relationship with Ruth Laughlin, as well as his
education and teaching career during the time he lived in the United States and
after his return to Africa. The Résumé
and Writings folder includes Mahoso’s poetry, the syllabi for classes he
taught, and information pertaining to his academic studies.
The Essays and Articles series (1975-1981)
contains writings by Laughlin’s friends and articles from newspapers and
journals that address issues of advocacy and social justice.
The Poetry series (1979,
1986, but primarily undated) contains the personal writings of Laughlin and
includes a poem written in memory of her husband, Ben Kazina.
The Photographs (1956-1986) series includes individual photographs and
the following folders: Childhood,
School Pictures, Jan’s Wedding, Christmas 1980, Dave’s 1981, Steve Gallagher,
Family, Philadelphia Days, Tafataona Mahoso and son, Temple Graduation, and
Slides of Ruth Laughlin.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Personal Documents 1965-1985
Education
Grades 1-9
Writings and Drawings, undated
Grade Reports and Award, 1960-1968
High School [Scattergood
Friends School, West Branch, Iowa]
Writings, 1972-1986
Grade Reports and Diploma, 1969-1972
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1972
University of Iowa
Class Notes, Writings, and Grades,
1973-1978
Temple University
Class Notes and Writings, 1980-1982
Class Notes, 1981-1982
Awards and Diploma, 1983-1985
Box 2
Religion
Writings and
New Testament, 1964-1982
Young Friends of North America, 1972-1977
Personal Correspondence
Family - Incoming
1972-1975
1978-1979
1980
1981
1982-1983
1984
1985-1986
Box 3
Personal Correspondence
Family - Outgoing
1970-1977
1978-1980
1981-1986
Friends
High school friends, 1971-1980
[Scattergood Friends School]
Iowa City Meeting House roommates,
1976-1985
Adams, Joe 1981-1982
Boardman, Ben, 1974-1976
Clayton, George 1979-1984
Collins, Julius, undated
Durbin, Mike, 1973-1974
Earles, Ash, 1979
Friedkin, Steve, 1978-1979
Gallagher, Steve, 1981-1982
Hughes, John, 1978
Huwiler, Kurt, 1980-1981
Jecko, Brigitta, 1980-1986 and undated
Box 4
Kazina, Ben 1984
Lapon, Chris, 1982-1984
M, Hannah 1979
McAndrews, Jamie 1978-1980
Mosquera, Chris 1976
Perez, Brian 1977
Ruskin, Bob 1981-1982
Shalita, Geoffrey 1984
Schlesinger, Lila1979-1984
Taussig, Marilee
1980-1985
Tenneriello, Carol and Ascenzi,
John1983-1985
Weichert, Thilo1979-1984
Zangger, Ursula 1983-1984
Gail (roommate), 1981, Undated
Gil, Undated
Joe, 1981-1982
Lenny, 1980
Lenny and Doris, 1984-1985
Simon, 1984
Miscellaneous,
1981-1986, Undated
Life Center and Movement for a New Society, 1978-1983
Political Action, 1979-1984
COMMUNITY writings, 1981 and undated
Financial Accounts 1984-1985
and undated
Box 5
Employment
Assessments and resumes, 1984, but primarily undated
Diaries
Introduction, Index, and Excerpts, 1986-1987 and undated [by Lois Laughlin]
1969-1974
1970-1971
1974
1974-1975
1974-1976
1975-1976
1976-1977
1977-1978
Box 6
1978
1978-1979
1979
1979-1980
1980
1980-1981
Box 7
1981-1982
1982-1983
1983-1984
1985
Box 8
1986
Death
Newspaper Clippings, 1986-1997
Memorials and Obituaries,
1986, 1989
Condolence Correspondence, 1986-1987
Tafataona P. Mahoso
Correspondence with Ruth Laughlin, 1980-1985
Correspondence with Lois Laughlin, 1986-1992
Résumé and Writings, 1981-1985
Political and religious articles and essays, 1961-1981
Poetry, 1979, 1986, but primarily undated
Photographs
Childhood, ca. 1956-1961
School Pictures, ca. 1960-1972
Jan’s Wedding, ca. 1979
Christmas, 1980
Dave’s, 1981
Steve Gallagher, ca. 1981
Family, ca. 1979-1984
Philadelphia Days, ca. 1979-1986
Mahoso, Tafataona and son, 1982, 1984, 1989
Temple University graduation, ca. 1984
Slides of Ruth Laughlin