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Robert E. Ramsey Papers 1926-1958

MSS-189

Biographical Note

Robert Ramsey was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Arizona as a child in 1926. He was raised in Sacaton, on the Gila River Indian Reservation, just south of Phoenix. His parents spent 38 years working among the Indians of North America. Ramsey's years of growing up in Sacaton fueled his interest in the Indians. He served three years with the Navy Seabees, almost two of those in the Mediterranean-European Theater of operations during World War II. After his duty with the Navy, Ramsey moved to Yuma, Arizona and began a 45-year career in the lumber business. Now retired, he has found pleasure in writing. Residing in Yuma with his wife Nancy, they have four grown children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains correspondence, ephemera, and photographs. The correspondence consists of letters written by the United States' Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Community Council to Ramsey's father, Eddie E. Ramsey, regarding his service as a teacher for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. The ephemera includes articles written by Ramsey for the spring 2002 edition of The Journal of Arizona History. The articles chronicle his experiences growing up on the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona. The titles include: My God, Eddie, what will we do?; and An Oasis in the Desert. The photograph collection contains pictures from his published book, An Oasis Remembered: an Indian Agency, Sacaton, Arizona a Pictorial and Historical Review about the Place and its People, which recounts the 1920's-1940's history of Sacaton. In addition to his personal family photos, many of these photographs were given to Ramsey by families who lived in Sacaton during that era. The photographs are divided by family collections: the Ramsey, Schuler, Peebles, Parker, Dedera, Fontana, Robinson, and Waddle Collections. Additionally, there is one photograph Ramsey used from the Casa Grande Valley Historical Society.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, please contact Ask an Archivist or call (480) 965-4932 at least five days in advance. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Patrons can also arrange to view this collection at the Labriola National American Indian Data Center (rm. 305) at Fletcher Library on the West campus. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert E. Ramsey Papers, MSS-189, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

Robert Ramsey donated these materials to the Labriola Center in 2005 (Accession #2005-03894).

Processing Note

Collection is housed in an archival ring binder and each section is listed as a folder in the box and folder list.

Container List