Ruth Kilbourn Papers, ca. 1947-1949

  • IdentificationDance MS Kilbourn
  • TitleInventory of the Ruth Kilbourn Papers, ca. 1947-1949 Dance.MS.Kilbourn
  • PublisherThe Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts
  • RepositoryThe Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts
  • Physical Description0.4 linear feet (1 box)
  • Dateca. 1947-1949
  • Location3a 48 10
  • AbstractSmall collection of memorabilia, photographs and performance programs and announcements of Ruth Kilbourn, who ran a dance studio in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1940s. Includes a pair of toe shoes
  • OriginationKilbourn, Ruth

Gift, Alta M. Blakely, 2002.

The Ruth Kilbourn Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Ruth Kilbourn Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Ruth Kilbourn Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Virginia Hay Smith, 2008.

Chicago dancer and dance teacher.

Ruth Kilbourn was born in 1895 and lived her whole life in her home in Hyde Park, where she died at the age of 89 in 1984. Educated in Chicago schools, Kilbourn studied dance with several well-known teachers, and in her youth she appeared on Broadway and as an adagio dancer at the Chicago Opera House.

After a back injury, she established the Kilbourn School of Dance in her home and studio and gave lessons in after-school programs at several public schools. She offered a wide range of popular styles: interpretive, character, Grecian, toe, ballroom, Oriental, and acrobatic, among others. Summer studio recitals were held in an outdoor Grecian-type theater in the backyard of her home.

Kilbourn bred Samoyed dogs and she enjoyed saving and spinning the hair they shed in order to produce soft wool which she would knit or weave into small garments like mittens and scarves. For many years she was a volunteer at the Animal Welfare League and after her death her property was willed to the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society.

Small collection of 1940s memorabilia, photographs and performance programs and dance school announcements relating to Ruth Kilbourn and the Kilbourn School of Dancing of Chicago. Includes photographs and memorabilia concerning “Horse “N Buggy Days” at the Wisconsin Dells in 1949, and a pair of toe shoes.

Arranged by type of material.

  • Names
    • Kilbourn School of Dancing.
    • Kilbourn, Ruth
  • Subject
    • Chicago
    • Dance
    • Dance -- Study and teaching -- Illinois -- Chicago
    • Dance schools -- Illinois -- Chicago
    • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
    • Women
  • Geographic CoverageWisconsin Dells (Wis.) -- Description and travel