Maude Gibson Ritter papers

Finding Aid

Prepared by Merritt D. Betts, May 21, 1985; Revised by E. Merle Watkins, April 24, 2003; Updated January 2015; Last Updated: December 2020

Inclusive Dates: 1919-1961
Extent: .16 cubic foot (1 slim document case)
Physical Location: 11th floor

Processing Information: Originally processed under the archives identification D.7.21.1.

Historical Note: Brothers-in-law John Gibson and Phil Ott came to Kent with their families in 1908 to operate a restaurant at the corner of Main Street and Franklin Avenue. Maude (1903-1983) was the oldest child of John and Bertha Gibson. Their other children were Jane, Ruth (Mrs. Redmond Greer) and Robert. In 1927, Maude married Edwin Ritter, also a member of the Kent High School class of 1922. Ritter's grandfather was Ed Lutz, a Kent carpenter and builder whose name appears frequently in the T. G. Parsons Lumber Company Records.

Scope and Content: Included in this small collection is a diary kept by Maude Gibson while she was a student at Kent Central High School, a 1922 Senior class prophecy and some newspaper articles.

Acquistion Information: The original collection was donated in 1982 by Esther Getz Donaghy, a life-time friend of Maude Gibson Ritter. The Family Tree and Wilson Reunion notebook was donated by James Beal in 2014.

Box 1
Folder--Contents

1. Diary, loose pages, 1919-1920
2. Senior class prophecy, 1922
3. The Bulletin, a Kent paper published by John Patton and edited by K.H. Grismer, first edition, December 26, 1932 (shelved in 11th floor map case)
4. Cleveland Plain Dealer photocopied articles featuring "Uncle Hen" Lutz of Logan, Ohio and his invention of a steam automobile in the late nineteenth century, December 25-28, 1947
5. "Family Tree List & Wilson Reunion Roll Call, 1956-1961" Compiled by Maude Gibson Ritter. Donated by James Beal, Sugar Bush Knolls, Ohio.