The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center have recently received a wonderful new donation of letters to and from Ruby Darrow, and memorabilia related to Clarence and his wife Ruby's travels together abroad, particularly during 1929 and 1930, during an important period in their lives. The new donation, generously gifted by Elva Paulson, a relative of Ruby Darrow, adds to the Law Library's extraordinary collection of material related to Clarence Darrow's life and career and sheds further light on Clarence and Ruby's lives.
The group of letters associated with Ruby reveal family details, such as support she offered for her young nephew's writing career, and some add to a small collection of material from Ruby's life after Clarence passed away in 1938. The collection of travel memorabilia documents Ruby and Clarence's travels to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, particularly from 1929 and early 1930, and includes hundreds of postcards picturing locales that they visited, as well as itineraries, a passport, casino tickets, menus, photographs, hotel brochures, and more. Some of the material can be correlated by location to letters written and received by Darrow at the time.
During the period when they were travelling, the Darrows were significantly affected by the "great" American stock market crash, beginning on October 24, 1929, which ended the "Roaring Twenties" and triggered the Depression. The growing reality of the new financial environment and anxiousness surrounding it appear in some of Clarence's letters, particularly those written to his son, Paul, which are housed in the Library's Darrow Collection. In letters from abroad, Darrow instructs Paul to look after family business arrangements, and receives word from other family members on how the crash has affected them.
The Library's Darrow Collection holds more than one thousand letters to and from the great American trial attorney, as well as publications by and about Darrow, photos, selected case material, books from Darrow's library, and a small archive of documents from Ruby's later life. The new letters and travel memorabilia are a great addition to the Darrow collection and will enrich our knowledge of Clarence and Ruby.
- Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections
