Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Correspondence, 1893-1987.

Diaries, 1924-1979

Tower School Records, ca. 1913-1956

Runnette Family Papers, ca. 1849-1988

Biographical Information, ca. 1886-1988

Artwork,

Memorabilia, ca. 1940-1965

Photographs, ca. 1850-1988

Correspondence, 1893-1987.

Diaries, 1924-1979

Tower School Records, ca. 1913-1956

Runnette Family Papers, ca. 1849-1988

Biographical Information, ca. 1886-1988

Artwork,

Memorabilia, ca. 1940-1965

Photographs, ca. 1850-1988

Runnette Papers, 1849-1988.

Finding Aid

Encoding funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2004

Biographical Note

Helen Virginia Runnette was born January 29, 1886 to Joseph H. and Virginia Anderson Runnette. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along with sisters Elizabeth Kerr Runnette, a member of the Mount Holyoke College class of 1912, and Ethel Anderson Runnette Ramsey, class of 1906. Runnette graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1910, but chose to affiliate herself socially with the class of 1909. After graduating, she taught at Briarcliffe Manor in New York, 1910-1911, and at the Lakewood School for Girls in New Jersey, 1912-1913. She took a position with Miss Tower's School for Children in Salem, Massachusetts in 1913. She attended Boston's New School of Design and Harvard's School of Education sporadically while working at Tower.Runnette had joined Miss Tower's School for Children (later Tower School) shortly after its establishment in 1912. In 1917, she became the Headmistress of the progressive children's school and changed its name to Tower School. When the school was incorporated in 1937, her title changed to Director, and she moved the school from Salem to Marblehead in 1941. Instruction at Tower stressed the development of language and writing skills and taught history through art and drama. Both boys and girls studied home economics and industrial arts together. The school's literary magazine, "The Turret", was highly regarded and was part of the collection at Harvard's Widener Library. Some issues are still held in the Mount Holyoke College library. During World War II, Runnette offered scholarships to seven British children and was honored for this with life membership to the Kinsmen of Britain. She was also a member of the Marblehead Historic Society, the Marblehead Arts Association, Mount Holyoke College Friends of Art, the Independent Artist's Group of Boston, and the North Shore Mount Holyoke Alumnae Club. In 1950, she served as a member of the White House Conference on Children and Youth and was listed in Who's Who in the East. Runnette was known as an accomplished artist and playwright with her children's plays frequently produced at Tower and published in "Plays Inc". of Boston. Many summers were spent at the Berskire Summer School for Art in Monterey, Massachusetts, and throughout her life, she designed bookplates, posters, Christmas cards, and magazine covers. She also exhibited her work in Boston and its suburbs. Runnette retired from teaching in 1956, along with longtime friend and colleague Miriam Luscomb. She had remained with Tower School for forty-four years. She died January 12, 1988 in her Marblehead, Massachusetts home at the age of 101.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Helen Virginia Runnette Papers document her personal and professional life and contain records related to the administration of Tower School and papers of the Runnette family. The collection contains material that spans the years 1849 - 1988, with the bulk of material created from 1940 - 1980. The Runnette Family Papers, a series within this collection, contains undated correspondence that may have been written prior to 1849 and photographs from the mid-nineteenth century.The most significant parts of this collection consist of Tower School Records and Runnette's correspondence. These document the administration of a small country day school from 1917 to 1956, through the great changes in the nation's social and political climates. Included are lists of school trustees, official correspondence, teaching and evaluation materials, enrollment and tuition information, and publications including applications, brochures, and the school literary magazine, "The Turret". Runnette's philosophies of education and the methods she used to realize these are reflected in the Director's notes. These are undated notebooks and loose papers upon which she wrote notes for her own use in facilitating meetings, developing curricular materials, and drafting correspondence. Of particular social and historical significance are letters written during World War II about the British children being educated at Tower while parents remained in Great Britain. Student compositions are included in this collection along with some material evaluating specific students. Diaries cover the years 1924 - 1979 and contain political, personal, and educational reflections as well as information on her health, travels, and the weather. In several instances, diary entries also overlap in date. Runnette's correspondence contains letters from family, friends, parents of students, former students, and other educators. Many letters relate to her retirement and to the death of a close friend whom she mourned greatly. Runnette's artwork consists of charcoal sketches, pencil sketches, bookplates, and other drawings.The Runnette Family Papers contained in this collection consist of correspondence, memorabilia, clippings, a Bible that contains genealogical information, and many photographs of family members including tintypes, gelatin silver prints, and more recent photographic forms. Biographical information about Elizabeth Kerr Runnette, and a letter written to her, is also contained in this collection. Further information about Elizabeth Kerr Runnette and Ethel Anderson Runnette Ramsey can be found in their collections in the Mount Holyoke College Archives.

Return to the Table of Contents

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into eight series:

• Correspondence
• Diaries
• Tower School Records
• Runnette Family Papers
• Biographical Information
• Artwork
• Memorabilia
• Photographs

Return to the Table of Contents

Contents List

Correspondence, 1893-1987.

This series, containing letters from Runnette's childhood through retirement, documents her relationships with friends, family, colleagues, students, and students' parents. Letters concerning British children educated at Tower School during World War II can be found in the correspondence of the early 1940s. Additionally, friends of Runnette living in England wrote of their experiences of war and their relief after it had ended. Affectionate letters of congratulations and wishes upon Runnette's retirement are contained that evidence the impact her teaching had on former students and their parents. A letter from Mary E. Woolley, dated April 24, 1934, mentions a visit by Woolley to Tower School. The majority of letters are dated from the 1940s and 1950s.

Arranged chronologically.

Diaries, 1924-1979

Runnette's diaries span the years 1924 to 1979 with the bulk of diaries created in the 1960s and 1970s. Some diaries overlap in dates and give slightly different perceptions of the same days. Notes found in the diaries have been left as found though some of the diaries written in loose-leaf binders have been removed from the metal bindings for preservation purposes. While many of the entries contain little more than a recount of weather, daily activities, and health, many detail her thoughts on people and events in her life as well as education.

Arranged chronologically.

Tower School Records, ca. 1913-1956

The series contains records related to the administration of Tower School from 1917 to 1956. Administrative records include the history and bylaws of the school, information regarding its trustees, financial and enrollment information and information regarding fundraising for the "new building" built when the school was moved from Salem to Marblehead in 1941. Correspondence primarily relates to the school interactions with area businesses and correspondence to the trustees. Also contained are administrative announcements, alumni news, and letters regarding Runnette's retirement dinner. Three folders of Director's Notes show Runnette's ideas about how to manage and inspire teachers, how to educate students, how to run effective meetings, and how to maintain her own enthusiasm in the face of difficulties. These display the transformation of ideas about education into teaching practice. Teaching and evaluation materials include guidelines by which students were to be evaluated and blank evaluation forms, a 1958 summer reading list, and excerpts from school plays. Reports on two specific students, one being a transcript from another school, are also included. The product of students' labor is captured in several editions of "The Turret" and loose student compositions. Additional issues of "The Turret" are held in the Mount Holyoke College Library periodical collection. Further publications include applications and brochures for Tower School that advertise its educational philosophy and offer scenes from the school.Financial and enrollment information includes budget reports as well as one chart comparing Tower School with other area schools in the areas of grades offered, tuition, and "extras."

Arranged in 7 sub-series by record type: 1. Administrative Records. 2. Correspondence. 3. Notes. 4. Teaching and Evaluation MAterials. 5. Publications. 6. Memorabilia. 7. Clippings.

Runnette Family Papers, ca. 1849-1988

This series contains family correspondence, memorabilia and genealogical information, clippings, and a family Bible containing further genealogical information. Notes found within the Bible have been left in place. More extensive information on the Runnette lineage is contained in the form of a report from Mabel Mann Runnette written in 1952. A eulogy for Elizabeth Kerr Runnette delivered on August 21, 1920 at Sandstone Camp, Green Lake Wisconsin, is also contained, paying tribute to her character and mourning her death to appendicitis at age 29. Many clippings refer to a slogan contest won by Virginia Anderson Runnette in 1926, and two refer to Fredric Ramsey Jr. (Runnette's nephew) and his career as a jazz scholar. Family correspondence spans 1849 - 1984 and contains letter to many different family members.

Arranged by record type.

Biographical Information, ca. 1886-1988

This series contains biographical information about Helen Virginia Runnette, including clippings from Boston area newspapers and obituaries.

Arranged chronologically.

Artwork,

Artwork contained in the Runnette Papers consists of charcoal sketches, pencil sketches, a sketchbook, bookplates, other drawings, and some art produced presumably in conjunction with courses taken at the New School of Design in Boston. Artwork housed in folio includes a painting of Runnette's father that bears the inscription "for Charlie."

Arranged by record type.

Memorabilia, ca. 1940-1965 1 folder

Memorabilia in the Helen Virginia Runnette papers consist primarily of travel itineraries. Much of the memorabilia in the collection refers to family members or Tower School and is arranged accordingly. Many items were also returned to the donor. Memorabilia housed in folio includes a scrapbook of letters written to Runnette from Tower School students upon her retirement.

Arranged by record type.

Photographs, ca. 1850-1988 1 box

This series contains approximately eighty photographs of family members, friends, Tower School activities, and places visited on vacations. Included are photographs of Runnette's friend Miriam Luscomb visiting Mount Holyoke College. Many photographs of Runnette and her sisters capture their childhood Pittsburgh. Individuals depicted include Helen Virginia Runnette, sister Elizabeth Kerr Runnette, sister Ethel Anderson Runnette, father Joseph H. Runnette, mother Virginia Anderson Runnette, grandmother Elizabeth Virginia Elliot Anderson, aand aunt Mary Zeller Anderson. Photographs housed in folio include individual images of Helen Virginia Runnette, her mother, and her father.

Arranged by subject.

Contents List

Correspondence, 1893-1987.

Diaries, 1924-1979

Tower School Records, ca. 1913-1956

Runnette Family Papers, ca. 1849-1988

Biographical Information, ca. 1886-1988

Artwork,

Memorabilia, ca. 1940-1965 1 folder

Photographs, ca. 1850-1988 1 box