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Euphemia Dimick memoir and other writings, 1916-circa 1951
Overview of the Collection
- Author
- Dimick, Euphemia, 1877-1967
- Title
- Euphemia Dimick memoir and other writings
- Dates
- 1916-circa 1951 (inclusive)19161951
- Quantity
- 0.1 cubic feet, (8 folders in shared box)
- Collection Number
- Coll 1056
- Summary
- Writings by Euphemia Dimick (1877-1967) of Oregon, including diary entries and a memoir titled "Through the Wilderness." The writings relate to Dimick's experiences raising her daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Dimick (1916-1974). Ruth Dimick had athetoid cerebral palsy, a condition marked by difficulty with motor skills, which was not well understood or accommodated in the early 20th century.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Euphemia Dimick (neé MacDonald) was born in 1877 near Gaston, Oregon. After studying at the Oregon State Normal School (now Western Oregon University) in Monmouth, she married Augustus Dimick (1870-1940) in 1898.
In 1916, Euphemia Dimick gave birth to a daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Dimick. Following the birth, Euphemia Dimick observed that Ruth Dimick had difficulty in developing motor skills. This was initially thought to be spastic paraplegia; it was not until Ruth Dimick had grown up that it was determined her condition was athetoid cerebral palsy. Euphemia Dimick took an active interest in her daughter's education. Because schools had sole discretion on whether to accept Ruth Dimick as a pupil, Euphemia Dimick returned to the Oregon State Normal School to obtain a teaching license. If a school refused to admit Ruth, this allowed Euphemia Dimick to have her daughter in her own classroom while teaching.
In the 1940s, Ruth Dimick joined the Chin Up Club, a club for people with disabilities. In 1948, she became editor of the club's newsletter, the Oregon Beacon, a position that she held until 1952, when her condition prevented her from continuing the work. Ruth Dimick lived in nursing homes for the last two decades of her life. When her health began to fail, Euphemia Dimick moved into the same nursing home as her daughter. Euphemia Dimick died in 1967; Ruth Dimick died in 1974.
Sources: "Through the Wilderness: A Memoir of Raising a Child with Cerebral Palsy in Early-Twentieth-Century Oregon," by Greg Chaimov with Euphemia Dimick, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 125, No. 3 (Fall 2024), pages 276-303; vital records via Ancestry.com.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection consists of writings by Euphemia Dimick that relate to her experiences raising her daughter, Ruth Dimick, who had athetoid cerebral palsy. Among these writings is a typed memoir, "Through the Wilderness," which covers the period from Ruth Dimick's birth in 1916 to the early 1950s. It includes an initial outline page onto which a photograph of Euphemia Dimick holding an infant Ruth Dimick has been taped. Also in the collection is a set of bound pages containing diary entries written by Euphemia Dimick in 1916, 1917, and 1930, as well as poems, handwritten transcriptions of articles, and observations.
Other writings in the collection consist of: references for "Through the Wilderness"; a handwritten draft of a portion of "Through the Wilderness"; a summary of Ruth Dimick's life and upbringing up through high school, which may have been written as an earlier version of "Through the Wilderness"; a typed account of Ruth Dimick's birth and the immediate aftermath with the handwritten notation, "Written for a physician"; and penciled notes. The collection also includes a single page of autobiographical notes written by Ruth Dimick, likely from around the same time as "Through the Wilderness" was written.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
A slightly edited version of "Through the Wilderness" was published in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 125, No. 3 (Fall 2024), pages 276-303.
Preferred Citation
Euphemia Dimick memoir and other writings, Coll 1056, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Mothers and daughters--Oregon--Biography
- Parents of children with disabilities--Oregon--Biography
- People with cerebral palsy--Oregon--20th century--Biography
Personal Names
- Dimick, Euphemia, 1877-1967
- Dimick, Ruth Elizabeth, 1916-1974
Form or Genre Terms
- diaries
- memoirs
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Dimick, Ruth Elizabeth, 1916-1974 (author)
