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INVENTORY OF THE RUTH FINNEY PAPERS
D-070
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Table of contents
Title: The Ruth Finney Papers
Date (inclusive): 1906-1979
Collection number: D-070
Origination: Robert S. Allen
Extent: 6.4 linear feet contained in 4 boxes and 6 folio boxes.
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
Davis, California
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Special Collections Department.
Language:
English.
The papers of Ruth Finney were given to the Department of Special Collections in 1980 by
her husband, Robert S. Allen. There are no restrictions on their use.
Collection is open for research.
The Library can only claim physical ownership of the Finney papers, and it is impossible
for us to determine the identity of possible claimants of literary property.
[Identification of item] The Ruth Finney Papers, D-070, Department of Special Collections,
General Library, University of California, Davis.
Ruth Finney was born 6 March 1898, in Chicago, Illinois, to John W. and Mary Morrison
Finney. She grew up in Downieville and Sacramento, California and attended San Jose
Normal School where she received a teaching certificate in 1918. After substitute
teaching in Sacramento for three months, she resigned to join the staff of the Sacramento
Star as a reporter.
In 1922, Finney received statewide recognition for her reporting of the Argonaut Mine
disaster in Jackson, California. She was transferred to the San Francisco Daily News and
there received national attention for her coverage of President Warren G. Harding's death
at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. As a result, she became the Washington, D.C.
correspondent for the four California Scripps-Howard newspapers. During her first years
in Washington, Ruth Finney covered the Teapot Dome Oil scandal, monitored the passage of
the Boulder Canyon Project Act (which authorized the construction of Hoover Dam and the
allocation of its resources), and investigated the corruption in the electric and gas
utilities industry, for which she received a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in 1931.
She began writing a weekly column, "Washington Calling," in 1941, which contained news,
political and economic analyses, and forecasts and was distributed to all Scripps-Howard
newspapers. She wrote numerous magazine articles and was a member of the Washington Press
Club.
Ruth Finney married Robert Sharon Allen, co-author of Washington Merry-Go-Round, in 1929.
Together they became fixtures of the Washington social scene, entertaining and being
entertained by presidents, senators, members of congress and court justices. Such
occasions provided grist for her column. Though she partially retired in 1965, Finney
continued writing her column through 1974.
Ruth Finney died 20 March 1979 and was survived by her husband.
The Ruth Finney Papers consist of materials related to her career as a newpaper reporter.
This includes her correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, manuscripts, clippings,
photographs, research materials, legal documents, and personal mementos.
The diaries, spanning from 1916 to 1952, recount her experiences from age 18 as a student
at San Jose Normal School, through her years as a Western correspondent at the
Scripps-Howard Washington Alliance. She describes current events as well as reporting
assignments, personal relationships, particularly with her mother and Robert S. Allen,
and colleagues and acquaintances, most notably California Senator Hiram Johnson, Supreme
Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Included in the manuscripts is a copy of Finney's unpublished autobiography, Journey from
the Star; her unpublished history of Downieville, Rogues and Riches; several unpublished
plays; a musical, Now Is the Time; and many short stories. The feature articles appear in
both draft and final form, and include her articles about Justice Department espionage
agents written in 1927 at the encouragement of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, and
her articles about the women's labor force in weapons factories during World War II.
All correspondence is incoming and has been divided into three groupings. The first
contains letters from Hiram Johnson dating from August 1926 to September 1928, written
during the height of the Boulder Dam filibuster. The second contains letters written
between September 1944 and July 1945, pertaining to her husband's (Robert S. Allen) war
experiences and subsequent discharge after being wounded. The third group contains
letters from editors, readers and politicians spanning the period from July 1917 to April
1978.