Collection Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio Historical Society acquired the Charles E. Ruthenberg Photograph Collection as a gift of Daniel Ruthenberg, his son, in 1967, and Oakley C. Johnson in 1968. Kathleen McIntyre processed the collection in October 1983.
Property rights: The Ohio Historical Society owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Daniel Ruthenberg and Oakley C. Johnson have dedicated such copyrights as they possess in this collection to the public. Consideration of all other copyrights is the responsibility of the author and publisher.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Ohio Historical Society. AP items require staff assistance.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite collection name, collection number, and the Ohio Historical Society in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Biographical sketch: See inventory to the Charles E. Ruthenberg Papers, MIC 84.
Scope and content: The Charles E. Ruthenberg Photograph Collection consists of thirty-three black and white photographs of varying size dating from 1897 to 1928 and occupying one-quarter cubic foot. The collection is arranged by subject and includes photographs of Ruthenberg, his family and friends on outings, socialist groups and meetings, Ruthenberg's funeral, and miscellaneous people and buildings .
There are four pictures of Ruthenberg in folder one; a formal portrait, 1903; a print from a newspaper, ca. 1921; a photographic postcard of him chopping wood and captioned, "The Modern Woodman," n.d.; and a postcard printed after his death. The snapshots in folder two show Ruthenberg with his wife, son, and mostly unidentified friends, at picnics and other social outings in Cleveland. There is also a formal portrait of McBain Walker and his wife, family friends, dated 1928; and a tintype of Ruthenberg and his wife, Rose, taken before their marriage in 1904 (AP 34).
The socialist groups and meetings depicted in the photographs in folder three are the Market Square meeting in Cleveland on October 28, 1917; the Socialist Convention and Eugene V. Debs picnic in Canton, Ohio, June 1913; an outing of the Young Peoples Socialist League of Cleveland, n.d.; and a photograph of a Young Peoples Socialist League gathering, possibly in Cleveland, n.d. (OVS 100).
Folder four contains photographs of Ruthenberg's funeral. There is a picture of Ruthenberg's open casket, propped up, surrounded by saluting children and a photograph of Ruthenberg's ashes being carried to Bremer train station, Germany, on their way to Moscow for burial in the Kremlin. Photographic postcards of Eugene V. Debs, 1897; "Class War Prisoners in N.Y. State," one of whom was Ruthenberg; and the Stark County Workhouse in Canton, Ohio, where Ruthenberg was imprisoned in 1918, are among the miscellaneous photographs in folder five.
