Ruby V. Scofield was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, on August 27, 1897 to George and Carrie Scofield. She was married to Thomas J. Doyle on December 25, 1917, in Saco, Michigan. According to the 1920 Census she was living at that time with her parents, her husband and her sister Ruth P. Scofield in School District 11, Phillips County, Montana. By 1922 she is living on a ranch in Clearwater, Missoula County, Montana with her parents and her husband, Thomas J. Doyle. Her daughter, Dorma Ruth, is born on March 16, 1922. In the 1930 Census the Scofields, the Doyles (including a new daughter Verdonna), and Ruth and her husband, Hubert Hunt, are living in Powell County, Montana. In the 1940 Census, Ruth is married to Philemon Prewett and they live in Cascade County. Dorma and Verdonna live with them, along with a lodger, Harold Hardy.
Phil and Ruby Prewett and Dorma and Verdonna Doyle are all living in Missoula, Montana by the early 1940s. Dorma Ruth Doyle and Harold Hardy married on June 18, 1947 in Kalispell, Montana. According to obituaries, Phil J. Prewett died on August 14, 1952 at the state hospital in Galen. Ruby Scofield Doyle died in Missoula on October 16, 1966. Dorma Ruth Doyle Hardy died in Missoula on September 25, 2015.
This collection consists of four daily diaries written by Ruby Scofield Doyle from January 1922 to December 1923. They provide a detailed account of the daily activities of women and men living on and working a ranch. Ruby describes cleaning, cooking, sewing, spending time with family, visitors to their home, the work of the men in the field and with the animals, and caring for her child, Dorma Ruth. The collection also includes twelve unidentified images which were found with the diaries and are very likely of the Doyle family, two images in which Dorma Ruth is identified, and two additional images.
The diaries in this collection have been arranged in chronological order. Photographs have also been arranged in chronological order.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Intellectual property rights not transferred to the University of Montana.
Ruby Scofield Doyle Diaries and Photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
According to the proprieter of Circle Square Second Hand Store in Missoula, Montana, these diaries and original negatives were found in a dumpster. The diaries and scans of the negatives were purchased from Circle Square by Pei-Lin Yu in 2013. The original images were not acquired from Circle Square. Original images of Dorma Ruth were held by Dorma Ruth Hardy and donated to the Archives after her death.
The diaries were donated to the University of Montana by Pei-Lin Yu in April 2014. Original images in the collection were donated by the caregivers for Dorma Ruth Hardy following her death.
Pei-Lin Yu created a blog about the diary, "Secrets From a Historic Diary," which includes transcriptions of diary content. The blog is available at http://peilinyu.wordpress.com/.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Prints created by Archives and Special Collections of photographs received electronically.