Robert and Ada Hicks papers, 1913-1988

Old Resource ID was RHicks

Ada (Yoder) Hicks (1900-1988) and Robert Hicks (1900-1987) were Hull-House residents who later became directors of the Joseph T. Bowen Country Club (BCC), the Hull-House sponsored summer camp. Ada Yoder came to Chicago to work at Hull-House from Iowa. Robert Hicks was originally from Durango, Colorado. As a resident, Robert Hicks was co-director of the Hull-House Boys Club with Wallace Kirkland.

Ada and Robert met in 1921 at the Bowen Country Club. By the end of 1922 they were engaged and they married in the garden of the camp on July 16, 1923. Their children, Barbara (Bever) and J. Robert were born while their parents were residents at Hull-House. Ada Hicks was a social worker, worked at the Young Women's Christian Association and taught school. Robert Hicks served as a wrestling coach at Tilden High School in Chicago for 28 years, coaching wrestling teams that won both state and national wrestling titles.

Robert Hicks supervised the boy's camp, Camp French, at the Bowen Country Club until he was appointed director of the camp in 1938 (upon the retirement of Thora Lund). The Hicks were directors of the Bowen Country Club from 1938 until 1958.

Ada Hicks' commitment to camping extended beyond Bowen Country Club. She was president of the Chicago Camping Association, was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Executive Secretary of the National Camping Association, and served on the Recreation Committee of the Mayor's Commission on Human Relations. Robert Hicks' influence in the field of high school wrestling reached the city and state levels with his work as Chairman of the City Wrestling Committee and President of the Illinois High School Wrestling Association.

Upon their retirement from the Bowen Country Club in 1958, the Hicks resided in Ojai, California. Robert Hicks died on May 19, 1987. Ada Hicks died on September 5, 1988.

This collection reflects the Hicks' relationship with Hull-House and Bowen Country Club. Correspondence, dating from the 1920s to the 1940s, includes letters by Gertrude Smith, Thora Lund, Esther Kohn, Jane Addams, Eleanor Smith, and Alice Hamilton. The Scrapbook highlights Hull-House activities, focusing on the 1920s and 1930s. This collection also contains photographs of Jane Addams.

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Materials in this collection were donated to the University of Illinois at Chicago, Main Library, Special Collections, in two accessions in 1971 and 1991. Original correspondence between Ada Hicks and Jane Addams can also be found in the JAMC-Small Manuscript File. Copies of that correspondence are located in this collection.

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Robert and Ada Hicks papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Names
  • Bowen Country Club.
  • Hicks, Ada (Yoder), 1900-1988 -- Archives
  • Hicks, Ada (Yoder), 1900-1988 -- Correspondence
  • Hicks, Robert, 1900-1987 -- Archives
  • Hicks, Robert, 1900-1987 -- Correspondence
  • Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.).