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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | About 11,300 items (24.0 linear feet). |
Abstract | Ruth Faison Shaw was an artist, teacher, and art therapist who lived in North Carolina, New York, and Rome, finally settling in Chapel Hill, N.C. She was a proponent of using finger painting in education and therapy work. The collection contains personal and professional correspondence, writings, subject files, photographs, materials related to the use of art therapy for disturbed children and military veterans, original art work including nine finger paintings attributed to Shaw, and other items. Most of the correspondence dates after 1940. Many of the letters were written by friends and relatives to Shaw, but there are several letters she wrote. Letters discuss activities of friends and family, art and art therapy, theater, and various business activities and also contain references to finger painting as therapy in the rehabilitation of World War II soldiers. Also included are Shaw and Faison family history materials, financial and legal documents dating from 1919 to 1968, articles and other writings by or about Shaw or her areas of interest, printed materials, and clippings. Subject files compiled by Shaw reflect her interests especially finger painting, hospitals, and psychiatric treatment. Photographs depict Shaw family members, Shaw demonstrating fingerpainting techniques, and Shaw's finger paintings. Photograph albums document Shaw's travels in France and the Middle East immediately after World War I and her years spent in Rome and in New York. |
Creator | Shaw, Ruth Faison, 1887-1969. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Martin Gengenbach, February 2012; Nancy Kaiser, June 2015; Laura Hart, January 2017; Anne Wells, May 2021
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Ruth Faison Shaw was born in 1887 near Wilmington, N.C. She worked as a school teacher in North Carolina before World War I, but in 1918 she traveled to France to travel and support the war effort in a volunteer position through the Young Men's Christian Association. After a brief return to North Carolina, Shaw went back to Europe in 1920 and worked as a teacher for British and American children in Rome. During this time, she published several books: Offerings and Offsprings, The Old Shoe, and The Second Old Shoe. She also developed her interest in finger-painting. In 1932, Shaw left Rome to teach finger painting at the Mac Jennet School in Paris. Soon after, she moved to New York, where she opened the Shaw Finger Paint Studio and published two more books: Finger Painting and Finger Painting and How I Do It. She retired in 1959 and moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., where she conducted research on the use of finger painting in psychiatric therapy at the Department of Psychiatry at North Carolina Memorial Hospital. Ruth Faison Shaw died on 3 December 1969.
Back to TopThe collection contains personal and professional correspondence, writings, subject files, photographs, materials related to the use of art therapy for disturbed children and military veterans, original art work including nine finger paintings attributed to Shaw, and other items. Most of the correspondence dates after 1940. Many of the letters were written by friends and relatives to Shaw, but there are several letters she wrote. Letters discuss activities of friends and family, art and art therapy, theater, and various business activities and also contain references to finger painting as therapy in the rehabilitation of World War II soldiers. Also included are Shaw and Faison family history materials, financial and legal documents dating from 1919 to 1968, articles and other writings by or about Shaw or her areas of interest, printed materials, and clippings. Subject files compiled by Shaw reflect her interests especially finger painting, hospitals, and psychiatric treatment. Photographs depict Shaw family members, Shaw demonstrating fingerpainting techniques, and Shaw's finger paintings. Photograph albums document Shaw's travels in France and the Middle East immediately after World War I and her years spent in Rome and in New York.
Note that because the original order as received has, for the most part, been retained, there is some subject and form of materials overlap among the series.
Back to TopArrangement: Chronological.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Arrangement: Arrangement is roughly alphabetical. Folder titles and arrangement as received have largely been retained.
Items with protected health information in folder 206 are closed until 2036.
Folder 188 |
Biographical and interviews |
Folder 189 |
Bibliographies |
Folder 190 |
Speeches |
Folder 191 |
Radio and television scripts |
Folder 192 |
Britannica Junior |
Folder 193 |
T. Eaton Company |
Folder 194 |
Shaw studio re-organization |
Folder 195 |
Rockefeller Center |
Folder 196 |
House of Little Books |
Folder 197-198
Folder 197Folder 198 |
Binney and Smith Company, 1953 |
Folder 199 |
Winter hospital, 1946-1947 |
Folder 200 |
Unfinished business |
Folder 201 |
Exhibits |
Folder 202 |
Charlie H. Moore |
Folder 203 |
Invitations, etc. |
Folder 204-205
Folder 204Folder 205 |
Finger painting letters |
Folder 206-209
Folder 206Folder 207Folder 208Folder 209 |
Case studies: Index of criteriaItems with protected health information in folder 206 are closed until 2036. Includes some example paintings. |
Folder 210 |
Case studies: Primal Scene |
Folder 211 |
Case studies: (A-O) |
Folder 212 |
Case studies: (P-U) |
Folder 213-216
Folder 213Folder 214Folder 215Folder 216 |
Case studies: Children's stories |
Folder 217-220
Folder 217Folder 218Folder 219Folder 220 |
Case studies: Write-ups |
Folder 221 |
Finger painting information |
Folder 222-224
Folder 222Folder 223Folder 224 |
Exhibitions, programs, and reciepts |
Folder 225 |
Instruction: Pamphlets |
Folder 226 |
Exhibitions, 1941 |
Folder 227 |
Phillips studio |
Folder 228 |
Wainwright Evans stories |
Folder 229 |
American listings |
Folder 230 |
Lellyn Robinson |
Folder 231 |
Societies |
Folder 232 |
Psychiatrist |
Folder 233 |
Duke and other hospitals |
Folder 234 |
Karl Menninger |
Folder 235 |
Peggy Pedigne |
Folder 236 |
Goodell |
Folder 237 |
Charles Cristoph |
Folder 238 |
Norman Houk |
Folder 239 |
Notes of school |
Folder 240-241
Folder 240Folder 241 |
Genealogy |
Folder 242 |
Binney and Smith |
Folder 243 |
Menninger Foundation |
Folder 244-246
Folder 244Folder 245Folder 246 |
Exhibit: 30 North Carolina Painters, 1956 |
Folder 247-256
Folder 247Folder 248Folder 249Folder 250Folder 251Folder 252Folder 253Folder 254Folder 255Folder 256 |
Finger painting classes |
Folder 257 |
Letters |
Folder 258 |
John Ford Reed and unidentified |
Arrangement: Items written by Ruth Faison Shaw are followed by writings by others. Folder titles and arrangement as received have largely been retained.
Arrangement: Arrangement as received has largely been maintained.
Travel papers and government documents from Shaw's time in Rome, Italy; genealogical information about the Faison and Shaw families in North Carolina during the Civil War; documents related to various art exhibitions in which Shaw took part; finger-painted works likely produced by Shaw; information related to her Chapel Hill, N.C., home; and other materials.
Folder 347-419
Folder 347Folder 348Folder 349Folder 350Folder 351Folder 352Folder 353Folder 354Folder 355Folder 356Folder 357Folder 358Folder 359Folder 360Folder 361Folder 362Folder 363Folder 364Folder 365Folder 366Folder 367Folder 368Folder 369Folder 370Folder 371Folder 372Folder 373Folder 374Folder 375Folder 376Folder 377Folder 378Folder 379Folder 380Folder 381Folder 382Folder 383Folder 384Folder 385Folder 386Folder 387Folder 388Folder 389Folder 390Folder 391Folder 392Folder 393Folder 394Folder 395Folder 396Folder 397Folder 398Folder 399Folder 400Folder 401Folder 402Folder 403Folder 404Folder 405Folder 406Folder 407Folder 408Folder 409Folder 410Folder 411Folder 412Folder 413Folder 414Folder 415Folder 416Folder 417Folder 418Folder 419 |
Other papers, 1913-1968 |
Folder 420-441
Folder 420Folder 421Folder 422Folder 423Folder 424Folder 425Folder 426Folder 427Folder 428Folder 429Folder 430Folder 431Folder 432Folder 433Folder 434Folder 435Folder 436Folder 437Folder 438Folder 439Folder 440Folder 441 |
Clippings |
Folder 442-454
Folder 442Folder 443Folder 444Folder 445Folder 446Folder 447Folder 448Folder 449Folder 450Folder 451Folder 452Folder 453Folder 454 |
Printed materials |
Books of financial information kept by Ruth Faison Shaw during her time abroad and in New York, as well as address books, calendars, and books of notes and writings. There are also several published works by Shaw, including compilations of stories collected during her time abroad and others on her work with finger painting.
Folder 487-494
Folder 487Folder 488Folder 489Folder 490Folder 491Folder 492Folder 493Folder 494 |
Artwork and certificates, 1908-1968Folder 492 not used. Includes miscellaneous papers and certificates and several finger-paintings created by Shaw. |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/1 |
Certificates |
Oversize Volume SV-3835/1 |
Exhibition scrapbooks, 1936, 1964Scrapbook pages with clippings, photographs, and other materials related to two exhibitions: Young America Paints, held at Radio City Music Hall in 1936; exhibition in February 1964 to celebrate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Founders' Day and North Carolina Tercentenary. |
Original art work, chiefly finger paintings. Nine of the finger paintings are attributed to Ruth Faison Shaw. Most are unattributed. Included are illustrations, some of which appear to have been created for children's books.
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/2 |
Finger Paintings by Ruth Faison Shaw2 items "Moonlight" and "Moon" are the titles of these paintings. |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/3 |
Finger Paintings by Ruth Faison Shaw2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/4 |
Finger Paintings4 items Two of the paintings are attributed to Ruth Faison Shaw. |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/5 |
Finger Paintings6 items One of the paintings is attributed to Ruth Faison Shaw. |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/6 |
Finger Paintings6 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/7 |
Finger Paintings4 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/8 |
Finger Paintings6 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/9 |
Finger Paintings9 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/10 |
Finger Paintings6 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/11 |
Finger Paintings2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/12 |
Illustrations4 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/13 |
Illustrations5 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/14 |
Illustrations11 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/15 |
Illustrations4 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/16 |
Finger Paintings by Ruth Faison Shaw2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/17 |
Finger Paintings2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/18 |
Finger Paintings2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/19 |
Finger Paintings2 items
|
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3835/20 |
Exhibit signs
|
Images of Ruth Faison Shaw, her artwork, and exhibitions featuring her finger-paintings. There are images of Thomas A. Faison (1802-1866) and other family photographs, Christmas and greeting cards, travel photographs from Europe, and other items. There are several documents and letters mixed in with the photographs that which provide context to some of the images, most of which appear to have been taken in the 1920s.
Image Folder PF-3835/1-27
PF-3835/1PF-3835/2PF-3835/3PF-3835/4PF-3835/5PF-3835/6PF-3835/7PF-3835/8PF-3835/9PF-3835/10PF-3835/11PF-3835/12PF-3835/13PF-3835/14PF-3835/15PF-3835/16PF-3835/17PF-3835/18PF-3835/19PF-3835/20PF-3835/21PF-3835/22PF-3835/23PF-3835/24PF-3835/25PF-3835/26PF-3835/27 |
Photographs, circa 1918-1968Image folders 26-27 include slides and negatives of Shaw's finger paintings. |
Photograph Album PA-3835/1 |
Photograph album: Paris, France, 1919Images documenting Shaw's travels in Paris and around France after World War I, including images of trenches and soldiers. Many images have descriptive captions. Some pages contain the names, home states, and other information about the soldiers and others she met on her travels. |
Photograph Album PA-3835/2 |
Photograph album: Constantinople, Turkey, 1920-1921Includes photographs taken during Shaw's travels in Constantinople, Turkey. Included are some pages with the names, hometowns, and quotations from American sailors Shaw met on her travels. Images include photographs of ships, sailors, refugees, mosques, and architecture. |
Photograph Album PA-3835/3 |
Photograph album: Rome, Italy, 1923Includes images taken during Shaw's time in Rome, Italy. Some pages include signatures and notes on people she met during her time there. There are photographs of Roman ruins and of the city, sketches, drawings, and doodles. |
Photograph Album PA-3835/4 |
Photograph album, 1928-1932Includes signatures and notes of thanks. This book may have been in use during Shaw's time as a teacher of British and American children in Rome. There are also several drawings. |
Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-3835/1-2
OP-PF-3835/1OP-PF-3835/2 |
Photograph album pages, circa 1940s-1950sIncludes pages with images of Shaw leading finger-painting workshops with veterans at a Young Men's Christian Association in Brooklyn, N.Y., circa 1940s. Also included are images of Shaw demonstrating finger painting in a 1954 television appearance. There are also enlarged images of Thomas A. Faison (1802-1866) and a small black dog. |
Audiocassette C-3835/1 |
Ruth Shaw bios and lectures, October 1976Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-3835/2 |
Ruth ShawAudiocassette |
The additions include materials related to the Shaw estate and a small amount of correspondence related to Shaw's family history.
Folder 495-497
Folder 495Folder 496Folder 497 |
Additions, circa 1920s-1940s |