chrono

Ruth Suckow:

A Chronology of her life

1892	Ruth born August 6 in Hawarden, Iowa, to William John Suckow, son of John and Caroline Suckow, natives of the dukedom of Mecklenburg, Germany, and Anna Mary Kluckhohn, whose father, the Reverend Charles Kluckhohn, a Methodist minister, came from the small city of Lippe-Detmold in the province of Lippe.
1892

1894	Ruth's father accepted the pastorate of the Congregational Church in LeMars, Iowa, a town of 5,000, which he held for one year. During this time, Ruth and her sister, Emma, lived with an aunt in Paulina, Iowa, while their mother was receiving medical treatment, first in Hawarden, then in Kirksville, Missouri, and later in St. Paul.
1896	Family returned to Hawarden to live.
1898	Father accepted pastorate at Algona, Iowa. There Ruth attended Central School.
1901	The old parsonage was moved about 1900 and served as a private residence for a hundred years. In January 2000, it was moved again to Calliope Village in Hawarden.
1901	Father accepted pastorate at Algona, Iowa. There Ruth attended Central School.
1902	Ruth dressed in a Martha Washington costume at age 10.
1903	The parsonage where Rev. Suckow and his family lived. Ruth referred to her birthplace as "the prairie cottage with the long windows.
1906	The family moved to Manchester, Iowa, the county seat of Delaware County. This pastorate was held for one year.
1907	Father began a three-year field service for Grinnell College. The girls attended school there.
1910	After Ruth's graduation from high school at Grinnell, the family moved to Davenport where the Reverend Suckow became pastor of the Edwards Congregational Church. Ruth matriculated at Grinnell College and specialized in English. While Ruth was at Grinnell, Emma married Edwin Hunting, a Grinnell College classmate. They had two children, Robert Suckow Hunting and Judith Ann Hunting.
1912	Father resigned from the ministry to take position writing lectures for the Victor Animatograph Company, manufacturer of stereopticons and moving pictures, in Davenport. Father purchased forty acres of land twenty miles west of Mobile, Alabama.
1913	Ruth left Grinnell College in June. While a student at Grinnell, she spent one summer as a waitress in Yellowstone Park
1914	Emma moved to Colorado for her health.
1915	Ruth graduated from the Curry School of Expression in Boston and came home to be with her father who had returned to the ministry and accepted in January his second pastorate at Manchester, Iowa.
	Ruth spent a month with her mother and Emmas in Colorado Springs. She enrolled in the University of Denver.
1916	Father's church building in Manchester destroyed by fire on November 24.
1917	Ruth received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Denver.
1917-18	For one year, Ruth was assistant to Dr. Ida Kruse McFarlane, Head of the Department of English, University of Denver. After receiving her degree, Ruth spent one winter as employee of a map company in Denver. Wrote material for automobile guide books.
1918	First published poem, "An Old Woman in a Garden," appeared in Touchstone in August. "Song in October," poem, published in The Midland, September-October.
1919	Learned the apiary (bee-keeping) business from Miss Delia Weston in Denver. Mother died and was brought to Garner, Iowa, for services in the Congregational Church and for burial. Father's resignation from Manchester pastorate to be effective in October.
	He and Ruth made a trip to Mobile, Alabama. Later he accepted a pastorate at Earlville, Iowa. Ruth moved to the parsonage with him and established her "Orchard Apiary" at edge of town.
1920	Emma lost her son.
1921	First published story, Úprooted," in the Midland for February. Her father began pastorate in Forest City, Iowa, May 1, 1921. "by Hill and Dale," poem, published in Poetry, June
1921-22	Ruth served as the editorial assistant on The Midland for six months.
1922	January 25 father married Mrs. Opal Swindle in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She had two sons, Earl and Duane Swindle. During the winter of 1922-1923, Ruth lived with them.
1924	Country People first published serially in The Century Magazine; later by Knopf. From 1924 to 1935, Ruth lived in New York City in the winters and kept bees in Earlville during the summers.
1925	The Odyssey of a Nice Girl published
1926	Iowa Interiors published. Ellan Mcllvaine became Ruth's literary agent. At Miss Mcllvaine's death, Marie F. Rodell became Ruth's agent.
1926	The Bonney Family published. Father accepted his last pastorate at Alden, Iowa.
1929	On March 1 in San Diego, California, Ruth married Ferner Nuhn, son of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Nuhn of Cedar Falls, Iowa. Ferner and Ruth lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, until November 1929. Cora published.
1930	The Kramer Girls published. Ruth received an honorary degree from Grinnell College.
1931	Children and Older People published. Ruth and Ferner lived in McGregor, Iowa, part of the year.
1931-1932	Ferner and Ruth lived in Cedar Falls. Did some "guest instruction" gave talks at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), the University of Iowa, and Indiana University.
1933	Spent part of the winter in Des Moines, Iowa, and part in Altadena, Califomia; spent the summer at Yaddo, the artists' colony in Sarasota Springs, New York, and at the MacDowell Memorial Colony at Peterborough, New Hampshire.
1934	The Folks published. A Literary Guild selection.
1934-1936	Residence in Washington, D.C. Lived for one year in Fairfax Court House, Virginia, while Ferner was connected with the Department of Agriculture for which he wrote pamphlets and other material.
1935-1938	Ferner and Ruth lived in Cedar Falls; they took an active part in community life. During this time her sister's child, Judith Ann Hunting, was married to Wells Barnett.
1939	Father died; he was buried in Greenwood Cemetary in Cedar Falls, April 6. Ruth and Ferner traveled in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and England.
1942	New Hope published.
1945	Associated with the University of Wisconsin Writers' Institute in summer.
	During World War II, the couple visited Civilian Public Service Camps, units in mental hospitals, fire-fighting units, starvation units under the combined sponsorship of the Service Committees of the Friends, Church of the Brethren, and the Mennonites. Ruth spoke on literary subjects, talked with young men and read manuscripts.
1951	Set up residence in Tuscon, Arizona.
	Moved to Claremont, California. Purchased home which she retained as her permanent residence until her death January 23, 1960. After moving there, spent part of one summer and early fall in Moylan, near Media, Pennsylvania.
1952	Ferner studied at Pendle Hill. Affiliation with Friends Society began about this time, but interest had preceded this date. Some OthersMyself published.
1955	"Friends and Fiction" published in Friends Intelligencer; review of Robert Elsmere in The Georgia Review.
1958	"The Surprising Anthony Trollope" appeared in The Georgia Review
1959	The John Wood Case published.
1960	Ruth dies January 23 in Claremont, Califomia.
1964	The Earlville Library was renamed the Earlville-Ruth Suckow Memorial Library
1966	A group of people, including Ruth's husband, Ferner Nuhn, establishes the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association.
1982	The group established the Ruth Suckow Park in Earlville at the site of her former home
1989	Ferner Nuhn died on April 15, at age 85. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetary in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
1996	A plaque was placed on Suckow's birthplace in Hawarden, Iowa.