This series consists of personal materials--school items, correspondence, calling cards, photographs, and reminiscences--belonging to Ruth Blackburne Hart Ottaway (1910-2011) as well as items belonging to her sister, Mary Woodward Hart (later Mrs. A. Dexter Best; 1907-1992?), and her mother, Elizabeth B. Condit Hart (1868-1915). The bulk of the material relates to Ruth's school years at Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, and Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, including a loose-leaf notebook; report cards; programs from the 1930 Packer Institute Class Day and Commencement; an oversize photograph of the Class of 1930; a copy of the 1933 "Tomokan" Yearbook from Rollins College (with photographs and listings for both Ruth Hart and her future husband James H. Ottaway); and address lists and correspondence related to the Packer Class of 1931's 30th reunion.
Highlights of the correspondence includes the invitation from the 1905 wedding of Elizabeth Condit and William Edgar Hart, with a letter from Elizabeth to her aunt, Elizabeth Woodward; a letter from James Ottaway to Ruth dated April 11, 1937; a letter from Mary Woodward to Ruth Ottaway dated April 29, 1942, describing the lace on Ruth's wedding dress; and a letter from Ruth's aunt, Sophia Haynes from 1950 announcing the sale of her home at 54 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, enclosing some photographs and mementos.
Miscellaneous items include a copy of Ruth's birth certificate; a typewritten inventory of Ruth Hart's silver as of November 10, 1933; and a typescript of stories about her childhood Ruth told to her son and daughter James H. Ottaway, Jr., and Ruth Ottaway Sherer in 1998, with a cover letter from James Ottaway to family members dated October 19, 2011, after Ruth's death.