Written by Anna Trammell
Scrapbooks, dance cards, and letters in the Student Life and Culture Archives often reveal tales of love that blossomed on campus. The love story of Louis Wright and Ruth Fisher materializes out of a combination of these items and comes to light through discoveries made by their daughter Nancy Wright Meyer, also a graduate of the University.
When Nancy and her sister Lois began organizing the attic of their parents’ home in Des Plaines, Illinois, they came across extensive correspondence between Louis and Ruth during their courtship. “There was no way we could throw them away… not after being saved for more than sixty-five years. They chronicled a developing friendship, romance, campus life in Champaign-Urbana, life on the farm, life in Des Plaines, teaching at Maine Township High School, job search, and life in general during the mid-1930s,” Nancy wrote in the preface to The Courtship of Louis and Ruth. [1] Nancy transcribed each letter and published this volume as a way to share them with family and friends. Continue reading “The Courtship of Louis and Ruth: An Illinois Love Story”