Welcome to the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) Website
The Ruth Suckow Traveling Exhibit at the Drake Community Library in Grinnell
Left: Veronica Ruse, Grinnell librarian, with Michael Hustedde of Bettendorf, who gave the opening talk on January 16th.
Right: Grinnell High School students who presented Jim Schaap's Reader's Theatre version of Suckow's short story, "A Great Mollie" on January 29th.
Odyssey of a Nice Girl (1925)
2025 Annual Meeting, RSMA at the Hearst Center for the Arts, Saturday, September 13th.
Join us for the free public Centennial Celebration of the 1925 publication of Suckow's novel, Odyssey of a Nice Girl.
24d2c3606f29f975a6c9952cd8cb4009.pdf
Download it here: The Iowa Digital Heritage website.
Description: Character study of a sensitive, ambitious girl in a small Iowa town. She is the only girl in a small, fairly well-to-do family and has always been expected "to do something" - what it is to be she gropingly tries to find out. Very realistic, uneventful as to incident, typical of small-town life. --Wisconsin Library Bulletin, Volume 22, 1926
182 pages. Published by Alfred Knopf.
More details to come on our schedule.
Our Country People picnic was wonderful this past September. It was a beautiful day to be eating outside on the patio.
Musicians: Jake Epley, Anna, & Jon Post performing the German-Methodist hymns mentioned in the novel: “Jesus Paid It All,” “There is Power in the Blood” & “Give Me that Old Time Religion.”
Here is their practice of "There is Power in the Blood."
Power in the blood practice Anna Jon Jake.mp4Essay #4 A Farm marriage Country People.pdfOur winning essay!
August and Emma Kaetterhenry:
A Farm Marriage Examined by Veronica Ruse
1931 Publicity Photo of Ruth Suckow
An informal photo of Ruth, enjoying the outdoors in Minnesota, 1932.
Ruth and Ferner with a writer friend, and a cat. (undated)
This website is dedicated to the work of noted Iowa author Ruth Suckow and her husband Ferner Nuhn. She was a famous writer with Iowa roots; this website was created by the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) to celebrate her literary legacy, and to help readers find information about her life and work--as well as provide access to some of her short stories.
To read more about their remarkable relationship, go to the page Ruth and Ferner.
Centennial Edition, Country People
You can purchase your own copy at our Annual meeting.
Want a zippered bag?
The web store is closed. However, Cherie Dargan has a few of the Country People tote bags left, so please contact her. $15.00 319-610-1805
The Suckow Traveling Exhibit
The Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, with the support of Humanities Iowa, is pleased to announce the creation of a Traveling Exhibit celebrating the life and work of Iowa novelist and short story writer Ruth Suckow who lived from 1892 to 1960.
We launched the Traveling Exhibit on January 1, 2024, as part of the Centennial Celebration of Suckow’s first novel, Country People. Host sites are now being scheduled for 2026 and 2026.
2025
Jan. 12 – Feb. 9, 2025: Drake Community Library, Grinnell -- Reader’s Theatre performance of “A Great Mollie.” Exhibit Program January 16 at 6 p.m. on Suckow’s Grinnell novella A Part of the Institution by Dr. Michael Hustedde, Emeritus Professor of English, St. Ambrose University; January 29 at 7 p.m., Reader’s Theatre performance of Suckow’s short story “A Great Mollie” by 4 Grinnell-area actors directed by Jennie Flinspach, Head, Department of English, Grinnell High School; January 9 at 7 p.m., Book Club discussion of Suckow’s first novel Country People
Feb. 16 – March 16, 2025: Manchester Public Library. Exhibit Program by Kenneth Lyftogt, retired Lecturer, University of Northern Iowa Department of History.
March 23 – April 20, 2025: LeMars Public Library
April 27 – May 25, 2025: Atlantic Public Library
June 1 – June 29, 2025: Williamsburg Public Library--Exhibit Program by Dr. Barbara Lounsberry, Emerita Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa.
July 6 – August 3, 2025: West Point Public Library – Exhibit Program by Dr. Barbara
Lounsberry, Emerita Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa.
August 10 – September 7, 2025: Burlington Public Library -- Exhibit Program by Dr. Barbara Lounsberry, Emerita Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa.
September 14 – October 12, 2025: Marion Public Library – Exhibit Program by Dr. Barbara Lounsberry, Emerita Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa.
October 19 – November 16, 2025: Loras College, Dubuque
November 23, 2025 – December 21 – Upham Public Library, Fredericksburg
2026
December 28, 2025 – January 25, 2026 – Livermore Public Library
February 1 – March 1, 2026 – Lied Public Library, Clarinda
March 8 – April 5 – Shenandoah Public Library
April 12 – May 17 (five weeks) – Gibson Public Library
Libraries that have expressed interest in hosting and received an Application Form
Albia Public Library *
Knoxville Public Library * Montezuma Public Library *
Ruthven Public Library
Officers for 2024-2025
President: Barbara Lounsberry
Vice President: Jim Schaap
Secretary: Sue Hummel
Treasurer: Karen Leonard
Webmaster: Cherie Dargan
Listen to "A Start in Life," narrated by Jim Schaap of Dordt College.
Or read it here, Ruth Suckow Memorial Association - A Start in Life
A Start In Life 7.11.mp3Read Suckow Short Stories and Novels On Iowa Digital Heritage
RSMA President Barbara Lounsberry worked hard to get Ruth Suckow's stories on the Iowa Digital Heritage website. The first set of stories is about Iowa women's lives. There are now nineteen short stories plus her novelette, "A Part of the Institution" in all, thanks to the hard work of one of our members, Roy Kenagy. Thanks, Roy!
Follow the link below to go to the website.
Then click on "People and Biographies."
The Ruth Suckow Short Story Collection is on page 7--if you want to take a look or to direct others to these stories. Once you see the story, scroll down and you can read the description and other information. If you then click on the red box, by the page at the top, the story will come up and there is a "pop up" button in the right-hand corner. If you click on that, it makes the story even bigger and easier to read and to print out.
RSMA Founder Ferner Nuhn is on Wikipedia.
We have posted pictures of some of his artwork: Figures of the 30s.
Please check out the page on Ferner (Resources on Ferner Nuhn) as well as Mentions to discover what other websites are saying about Suckow & RSMA (Links to Posts on Blogs), Writing about Suckow (for another chance to read Marsha's poem on Suckow), and RSMA News (for updates about projects and events).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferner_Nuhn
We have replicated the Wikipedia entry on our site--on the page about Ferner. Written by webmaster Cherie Dargan, it draws from the hard work of several writers and historians in our group from the past, including Dorothy Grant.
In addition, the Ruth Suckow website may look the same, but we were approved for Google Apps for Non-Profits in 2013, which gives us a larger web space.
Ferner's Art is now here! Check out his sketches of fellow participants at some of the Writer's Workshops he and Ruth attended at Yaddo and MacDowell Colony, retreats established to give writers and artists a place to spend time creating their work. He called this collection of paintings "Figures of the 30s."
Find a reference to Suckow, a new photo, or have information about one of Ruth or Ferner's relatives?
Please contact Cherie, webmaster, at cheriedargan@gmail.com.
Want to contact us? Want to become a member? Click here for information!
Some people find us through the Wikipedia article on Ruth Suckow; however, if you haven't seen it yet, here it is. The article was written by Michael Dargan, the original webmaster for the first Suckow website.
You can LIKE us on Facebook! Search for the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association.
RSMA President Barbara Lounsberry doing research at the Special Collections.
Almost every summer before Covid-19, Barbara, Mike and I traveled to the University of Iowa to visit the Special Collections area, do research, and frequently take materials that had been donated. They have a sizeable Ruth Suckow collection there, thanks to the work of Ferner Nuhn and Georgia.
Ruth Suckow loved cats, and there are numerous photographs with her holding a cat. This one was sent to The Iowan magazine.