Dr. Sue Earnest Papers
An Inventory of Holdings at the Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database
Collection Description/Finding Aid prepared by Emily Floyd.
© Copyright 2010 Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database. All rights reserved.
Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database
12/17/2010
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://hobbit.sdsu.edu/archon
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Fax: 619-594-0466
Overview of the Collection
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://hobbit.sdsu.edu/archon
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Fax: 619-594-0466
Creator:
Earnest, Sue, 1907-2007
Title: Dr. Sue Earnest Papers
Dates: 1848-2007
Dates: 1925-2007
Quantity: 26.46 linear ft
Abstract: The Dr. Sue Earnest Papers document the career and personal interests of Dr. Sue Earnest at San Diego State University and
in the greater San Diego community. The collection highlights in particular Earnest's dissertation research, her career as
a professor of speech pathology at San Diego State, her community work following her retirement, as well as her great personal
interest in foreign travel. It dates from 1848 to 2007, with the majority of materials dating from 1925-2007, and consists
of correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, postcards, photographs, annual reports, theater production scripts and news clippings.
The collection consists of two major series, Personal Files and Professional Files. The Personal Files consist of two sub-series:
Diary and Scrapbooks and Travel Files. The Professional Files consist of three sub-series Theater Files, Speech Clinic Files
and San Diego State Files.
Identification: MS-0454
Language of Materials:
The papers are in:
English
Biographical Note
Dr. Sue Earnest (nee Wolfer) was born September 19, 1906 in North Dakota. Her family moved to San Diego when she was four,
where she spent most of her life. Earnest received a B.A in 1928 from San Diego State College, as well as an M.A. in 1938
and a Ph.D in 1947 from the University of Southern California.
Earnest married her college sweetheart, Lester Earnest, in 1928. After teaching in local elementary schools, Earnest joined
the faculty at Memorial Junior High School in 1934 and taught speech, public address, drama and speech therapy. She adapted
and produced six plays during the nine years she spent at Memorial Junior High.
Dr. Earnest joined the faculty at San Diego State College in 1947 as an assistant professor in the English and Psychology
departments. In 1948 she became an Associate Professor in the Speech Department and made full professor in 1954. The Speech
Arts Department encompassed four areas, Dramatic Arts, Speech Communication, Speech Pathology, Audiology, and Telecommunications
and Film. From approximately 1959-1965 Earnest held a special leadership role as professor in charge of Speech Pathology and
Audiology. She chaired the Speech Arts department in 1959-1960 and then again from 1970 until her retirement in 1973.
Earnest saw the department through two accreditations, and contributed countless hours of service to San Diego State through
a variety of campus organizations after her retirement. Earnest founded the Speech and Hearing Clinic and was the director
from 1953-1967. Her work and service inspired many who went on to work in the SDSU and San Diego communities.
Earnest's contributions to the community and San Diego State after her retirement in 1973 are numerous. Her direction at the
Speech and Hearing Clinic led to the development of a Speech and Hearing Center for the military at the U.S. Naval Hospital
in Balboa Park. She was involved in various organizations, serving as president of the SDSU Alumni Association in 1940, of
which she was a lifetime board member after 1948. She organized the first pre-1950's class reunion and located over 700 past
alumni in the "lost alumni" campaign. The SDSU Alumni and Associates awarded Earnest in 1973 with the Distinguished Alumnus
Award and again in 1998 with the Distinguished Alumni Service award.
Her involvement in the Mortar Board began in 1950, and prior to her retirement she was Mortar Board's faculty adviser for
five years, facilitating the San Diego State Chapter's association with the National Board. In July 2000 the trustees of the
National Mortar Board Foundation awarded Earnest as the sixth Distinguished Lifetime Board Member. In 1985 Earnest spearheaded
the establishment of the SDSU Faculty and Staff Retirement Association. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa
Phi, Pi Kappa Delta (debate), Zeta Phi Eta (speech) and Phi Beta Delta.
Throughout her life, Dr. Earnest traveled the U.S. and all over the world. The list of countries she traveled in include the
United States, Australia, Austria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands,
Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Indonesia. She passed away on November
8, 2007.
Scope and Contents
The Dr. Sue Earnest Papers document the career and personal interests of Dr. Sue Earnest at San Diego State University and
in the greater San Diego community. The collection highlights in particular Earnest's dissertation research, her career as
a professor of speech pathology at San Diego State, her community work following her retirement, as well as her great personal
interest in foreign travel. It dates from 1848 to 2007, with the majority of materials dating from 1925-2007, and consists
of correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, postcards, photographs, annual reports, theater production scripts and news clippings.
The collection consists of two major series, Personal Files and Professional Files. The Personal Files consist of two sub-series:
Diary and Scrapbooks and Travel Files. The Professional Files consist of three sub-series Theater Files, Speech Clinic Files
and San Diego State Files.
The Personal Files (1925-2007) include two sub-series, Diary and Scrapbook (1925-2007), and Travel Files (1948-1990). The
Diary and Scrapbook series documents Earnest's school activities and personal life during college; materials are filed in
chronological order. Much of the early courtship between Sue and her future husband Lester Earnest is documented as well as
Earnest's 100th birthday celebration. Highlights include photographs and correspondence from former colleagues and friends
at San Diego State given to Earnest for her 100th birthday. The Travel Files document Earnest's numerous domestic and foreign
travels. It includes itineraries, correspondence, photographs, maps, postcards, brochures, three journals, one each from Australia/New
Zealand, Japan and Russia. The files are in alphabetical order by country name.
The Professional Files include three sub-series: Theater Files (1848-1950), Naval Hospital Clinic Files (1971-2005), and San
Diego State Files (1950-2000). The Theater Files document Earnest's dissertation research on early theater in Southern California.
It also documents the productions she adapted and produced while teaching at Memorial Junior High School and the production
she co-authored for the California Centennial. The sub-series consists of notecards, photographs, a scrapbook, correspondence,
news clippings, original scripts, programs, and sheet music. Notecards are subdivided topically and all materials are alphabetical.
The Naval Hospital Clinic Files document Earnest's work with the Speech and Hearing Clinic at the Naval Hospital in Balboa
Park and contain a notebook commemorating the opening of the clinic, correspondence, photographs, news clippings and brochures.
The San Diego State Files document Earnest's work with the Speech and Hearing Clinic on campus and her work with organizations
and associations at San Diego State following her retirement. Included are summaries and reports on the status of the San
Diego State University Clinic, correspondence, certificates, awards, vitas, programs, from the Alumni Association, Mortar
Board, Homecoming Gala's, pre-1950's reunion, sororities, Friends of the Library and the San Diego State Faculty Retirement
Association. San Diego State University Clinic materials are filed alphabetically, organizations and association materials
are filed alphabetically.
Arrangement of Materials
I. Personal Files
1. Diary and Scrapbook
2. Travel Files
a. Journals/ Personal Notes
b. Postcards
c. Country files
d. Photographs
II. Professional Files
1. Theater Files
a. Dissertation Research
b. Memorial Junior High Scrapbook
c. Theatrical Production Files
d. News clippings
e. Photographs
2. Naval Hospital Clinic Files
3. San Diego State University Files
a. San Diego State University Speech and Hearing Clinic
b. San Diego State University Organizations and Associations
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Genre/Form of Material:
Personal Papers
Photographs
Publications
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. The nature
of historical archival and manuscript collections means that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.
Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. Requests for permission to publish
must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted,
permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are
made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the
materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Acquisition Information
The materials were acquired by Special Collections & University Archives: Finding Aid Database from Lester Earnest on 03/06/2008.
Accruals
2009, 2010
Box 1
Diary
January 1, 1926- July 23, 1927
Box 1
Scrapbook
September 19, 2007
Scope and Content Note
100th Birthday Celebration Scrapbook
Box 4, Folder 2
Mortar Board Lunchon for Sue Earnest
1990
Journals and Personal Notes
Box 4, Folder 7
Travel Notecards
Scope and Content Note
Copenhagen, Germany, England, Vienna, Belgium
Box 4, Folder 8
Australia, New Zealand
1987
Box 9, Folder 9
United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)
1983
Box 9, Folder 10
United States of America
1961
Box 9, Folder 13
Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai
Box 10, Folder 1
Photographs- Thailand, Bangkok, Chiang Mai
Box 10, Folder 2
Photographs and Negatives - Unidentified
Box 10, Folder 3
Photographs- Yugoslavia, Mexico, Beliz
Box 10, Folder 4
Photographs- Yugoslavia, Mexico, Beliz
Box 10, Folder 5
Photographs- Yugoslavia, Mexico, Beliz
Box 10, Folder 6
Photographs- Yugoslavia, Mexico, Beliz
Box 10, Folder 7
Theater buildings, programs and people
Box 10, Folder 8
Theater buildings, programs and people
Box 10, Folder 10
Dissertation notes, correspondence and references
Box 10, Folder 11
Dissertation Newsclippings
Memorial Junior High Scrapbook
Theatrical Production Files
Box 11, Folder 3
Golden Pueblo- Abridged Version
Box 11, Folder 4
Golden Pueblo- Earlier Version
Box 11, Folder 5
Golden Pueblo- Earlier Version
Box 11, Folder 6
Golden Pueblo- Earlier Version
Box 11, Folder 7
Golden Pueblo- Earlier Version
Box 11, Folder 8
The Nutcracker of Nuremberg
Box 11, Folder 10
Two Years Before the Mast- "Cien Anos" or "Dana Days in San Diego"
Box 11, Folder 14
The Doughboy- Memorial Jr. High
1938, 1941-1943
Box 12, Folder 2
Newsclippings - Union Tribune
Box 12, Folder 7
Memorial Junior High
1930s 40s
Naval Hospital Clinic Files
San Diego State University Files
Speech and Hearing Clinic
Box 13, Folder 7
Speech and Hearing Clinic Procedures Manual
Box 13, Folder 16
HASA Clinic Auxiliary and ECHO
1973
Box 13, Folder 17
Proposal for a Joint Doctoral Program
1995
Box 13, Folder 19
Speech Department History
Box 13, Folder 20
Speech and Hearing Clinic Procedures Manual
Organizations and Associations
Box 14, Folder 1
Alpha Gamma Delta Quarterly
January 1950
Box 14, Folder 2
Alpha Gamma Delta 50th Anniversary
1999
Box 14, Folder 9
Camino Real- Skull and Dagger
1958
Box 14, Folder 14
Distinguished Alumni Service Award
Box 15, Folder 1
Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association
1997-1999
Box 15, Folder 10
Gross, George (Mortar Board)
1995
Box 15, Folder 11
Health and Human Services, Music and Dance Faculty
Box 16, Folder 3
Library SDSU
1985-86, 1991-94, 1996-97
Box 16, Folder 8
Mortar Board- Alumni Activities
1985, 1987-88, 1990-95, 1997
Box 16, Folder 10
Mortar Board, Constitution
1982-85
Box 16, Folder 11
Mortar Board, Current
1996
Box 16, Folder 12
Mortar Board, Forum
1990, 1998-2004
Box 16, Folder 13
Mortar Board Honorary Membership
Box 17, Folder 1
Mortar Board, Faculty Staff Award
1988, 1990-93, 2000-2003
Box 17, Folder 2
Mortar Board Minutes
1989, 1991-92
Box 17, Folder 3
Mortar Board, Earnest, Service Award
1965, 1988-90
Box 17, Folder 4
Mortar Board National Office
1990-91, 2004
Box 17, Folder 6
People
1987-88, 1992, 1996-98, 2000
Box 17, Folder 7
Phi Beta Delta (international)
1987, 1990-92
Box 17, Folder 8
Phi Beta Kappa Epsilion
1992, 1997
Box 17, Folder 9
Phi Beta Kappa Nu
1976, 1982, 1986, 1990-93, 1996-97
Box 17, Folder 12
President's Associates
1993-96
Box 17, Folder 14
Rowing Team, Photographs and Negatives
Box 17, Folder 16
SDSU Faculty- Staff Retirement Association
1985, 1987-88
Box 17, Folder 19
SDSU Student Directory
1950-56
Box 18, Folder 1
Student Handbook SDSC
1955-56
Box 18, Folder 2
SDSU Faculty Addresses
1981-91, 1996
Box 18, Folder 6
Tingley, Katherone
1916-73
