Ruth Bellamy Papers

1905-1990, undated
Manuscript Collection #483
Portions of this collection are digitized (1 item)
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Creator(s)
Bellamy, Ruth
Physical description
0.33 Cubic Feet, 163 items , including correspondence, clippings, poems, a eulogy, play programs, photographs, genealogical information, and play scripts.
Preferred Citation
Ruth Bellamy Papers (#483), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Papers (1905-1990) including correspondence, clippings, poems, a eulogy, play programs, photographs, genealogical information and play scripts concerning poet, playwright, journalist, editor, and actress Ruth Bellamy and the Bellamy family of the Enfield, North Carolina, area.

Biographical/historical information

Ruth Bellamy [Brownwood] (1906-1969) was born in Enfield, N.C. She attended UNC-Greensboro and Columbia University. Poet, playwright, journalist, editor, and actress, she was head of the Department of Spoken English and Expression at High Point College. She lived in Tokyo from 1957-1961 and in Hong Kong from 1961-1963 where she was associated with the Tokyo Amateur Dramatic Club and the Hong Kong Stage Club. In Tokyo she wrote the lyrics for a song popular in the Far East, "Blues Tokyo." She moved back to Enfield in 1963 where she remained until her death.

Scope and arrangement

Most of the correspondence is family related, mainly with Ralph Hardee Rives. In her letters she makes references to one of her plays (1949), a poem (1958), the Theatre Royal production of My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews (1958), John F. Kennedy as President (1961) and his assassination (1963). There is a copy of a letter to President Johnson about Rhodesia and Viet Nam (1968).

Clippings include obituaries, articles about Miss Bellamy from foreign and North Carolina newspapers, and letters to the editor on literary questions and Far East politics.

Some of her poems note the date and place of publication. Play programs include several from both Tokyo and Hong Kong as well as one from Columbia University. A miscellaneous folder includes her eulogy, a play script "Easter in Early California," and family history material. Photographs are of family members.

Administrative information
Custodial History

December 13, 1983, 105 items; Papers (1949-1969), including correspondence, clippings, photographs, programs, and poetry.

December 29, 1987, 25 items; Correspondence, photographs, and clippings. Gift of Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives, Enfield, N.C.

November 29, 2012, (unprocessed addition 2), 0.05 cubic feet, 32 items; Photographs (1918, undated), correspondence (1956, 1965, 1988-1990), and clippings (1935, 1969-1989) are related to Ruth Bellamy and other members of the Bellamy family of Enfield, N.C. Also included is a copy of a cassette tape recording of Ruth Bellamy reading a family letter and celebrating her 52nd birthday (1958) in Japan with friends; an issue (Vol. 1, No. 20, March 3, 1905), of The Pointer, a newspaper put out by the Enfield Graded School; and The Road to Shanxi written by Daniel Brownwood (1987), a grandson of Ruth Bellamy. Donor: Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives

November 27, 2012, (unprocessed addition 3), 0.06 cubic feet, 1 item; Included is a photocopy of "Bed of Roses," a musical comedy written by playwright Ruth Bellamy while she was living in Hong Kong from 1961 to 1963. Donor: Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives

Source of acquisition

Gift of Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives

Processing information

Processed by M. Boccaccio, January 1988

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Key terms
Personal Names
Bellamy, Ruth
Rives, Ralph Hardee--Correspondence
Topical
Theater--China--Hong Kong
Theater--Japan--Tokyo
Women dramatists--North Carolina--Enfield
Women lyricists--North Carolina--Enfield