Skip to Main Content

College of Southern Idaho Special Collections and Archives: Virginia Ricketts Collection, 1883-2013

CSISCA provides consistent opportunities for strengthened community connection, lifelong learning, and continued education to College of Southern Idaho faculty, staff, students, and community members.

CSISCA Header

Collection Finding Aid

Virginia Ricketts Collection, 1883-2013

College of Southern Idaho

September 20, 2023

315 Falls Avenue, Twin Falls, ID 83301

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Administrative/Biographical History Note

Scope and Content Note

Restrictions

People

Related Material

Administrative Information

Associated Information

   
 
Repository: College of Southern Idaho. Special Collections and Archives.
Address: 315 Falls Avenue, Twin Falls, ID 83301
Creator: Ricketts, Virginia.
Title: Virginia Ricketts Collection, 1883-2013
Dates: 1883-2013.
Extent: Approximately 1500 books occupying 60 cubic feet
Extent: 5 boxes of newspapers occupying 20 cubic feet
Extent: 6 boxes of 288 maps occupying 9 cubic feet
Extent: Equivalent of 50 volumes occupying 24 cubic feet comprising of compilations of records and primary sources
Extent: 4 boxes occupying 24 cubic feet and comprised of approximately 50 folders.

Extent:

 14 filing cabinet drawers occupying 42 cubic feet comprised of 200 vertical folders
Identification: COLL_MSS002
Language: English

Administrative/Biographical History Note

Virginia Ricketts was historian who focused on the Jerome County area and Magic Valley in general. She taught at the College of Southern Idaho and was a strong voice for preservation of historical records for educational and interpretational use.

While Virginia was born in Kansas (on January 12, 1925), she spend the vast majority of her life in Idaho. She lived in Filer, Idaho until she graduated high school. She married Clair Ricketts, and when he was discharged from the military they both moved back to southern Idaho and setlled in Jerome. Shortly after they arrived, Virginia began working as the clerk for Jerome County. She was also a writer for the Times News in a column entitled "Then and Now." This column examined historical events in the entire Magic Valley and compared and contrasted them to then-current events. This project would inspire her future work, "Then and Now in Southern Idaho." She also wrote a book on Shoshone Falls and used her expertise in historical research to teach a history class at the College of Southern Idaho.

Both Virginia and Clair were involved in multiple professional organizations related to Idaho. Virginia in particular became involved in historical and preservation societies. She passed away on November 27, 2010.

Scope and Content Note

The Virginia Ricketts Collections contains books, serials, newspapers, maps, historical records, and vertical files of research documents on multiple important subjects related to local history. All of these materials are somehow related to the Southern area of Idaho and its more concentrated geographic areas.

Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Copyright Statement: The copyright of original materials in this collection is held by Virginia Ricketts. Copyright of other materials is held by their creators unless they were published before 1927. Some items, including books, newspapers, photographs, and historical records, are in the public domain.

Copyright Restrictions: It is the researcher’s responsibility to conform to all legal literary and copyright provisions attached to the materials used. The Special Collections Department will not be responsible for the infringement of any such laws. Patrons assume all responsibility for reproduction requests and will not assign blame in any way to the College of Southern Idaho over the reproduction of material at the request of patrons. For more information please visit Title 17 of the Copyright Law.

People

Ricketts, Virginia.

Subjects

Jerome (Idaho)--History.
Journalism--United States.
Magic Valley (Idaho)--History.

Places

Jerome (Idaho).
Magic Valley (Idaho).

Form

Biographies.
Local histories.
Maps.
Newspapers.
Photographs.
Records (Documents).
Dorine Dimond Goertzen Collection (CSI_MSS001)

Provenance

This collection was created by Virginia Ricketts, who donated it to the College of Southern Idaho piece by piece. She and her husband Clair gave us donations in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Processing Information:

These records were organized and cataloged in 2023 by Reed C. Hepler.

Preferred Bibliographic Citation

Ricketts, Virginia and Clair Ricketts, "Virginia Ricketts Collection" (CSI_MSS 002). College of Southern Idaho Special Collections and Archives, Twin Falls, Idaho. Accessed on [[date]]
COLL_MSS002-01: Books on the history of Magic Valley, 1897-2001.
  300 bookx occupying 90 cubic feet.
  This series contains books on the history of Magic Valley. Specifically, it focuses on Jerome County and Twin Falls, Idaho. It also contains books on the state of Idaho in general. There are many genres in this series, including primary sources, historical analysis works, and historical fiction. Issues discussed include religion, government, geography, business trends and notable administration events.
COLL_MSS002-02: Serials, 1903-2004.
  100 books occupying 20 cubic feet.
  This series contains a wide number of serials. Most of these are concerned with the political and social history of southern Idaho. Notable in this series are the serials INCREDIBLE IDAHO and IDAHO IMAGES.
COLL_MSS002-03: Newspapers from locations throughout Southern Idaho, 1910-2013.
  5 boxes of newspapers occupying 20 cubic feet.
  This series contains newspapers from Woods Cross, Shoshone, Jerome, Twin Falls, Ketchum, and other locations throughout Southern Idaho. Many centennial and celebratory newspaper pages were collected and stored together, but most of the papers are separated by title and publisher.
COLL_MSS002-04: Maps, ca. 1915-1987.
  6 boxes occupying 9 cubic feet and comprised of 288 items.
  This series contains maps of all sorts of types from Southern Idaho and surrounding states. These maps were made for geographic, political, celebratory, and social purposes. For example, some of these maps are originals created by officers of Jerome and Twin Falls counties over the years. Others were created for tourists and the general public.
COLL_MSS002-05: Historical Records. 1883-1989.
  20 boxes occupying 24 cubic feet.
  This series contains historical records of county and city dealings in various locales in Magic Valley, including Ketchum, Jerome, and Shoshone, and Twin Falls. Jerome County is the major focus of this series, but records exist from other areas of Idaho as well.
COLL_MSS002-06: Vertical Files. 1980-2007.
  14 filing cabinet drawers occupying 42 cubic feet and comprised of 200 vertical folders.
 

This series contains many of the working files of Virginia Ricketts for her books and article work products. Mainly, these files consist of curated clips from various sources organized by topic. Also included in this collection are photographs and ephemera from Minidoka Internment Camps.
COLL_MSS002-07: Assorted Periodicals, Pamphlets and Historical Narratives. 1980-2007
  4 boxes occupying 24 cubic feet and comprised of approximately 50 folders.
 

This series contains many of the working files of Virginia Ricketts for her books and article work products. Mainly, these files consist of curated clips from various sources organized by topic. Also included in this collection are photographs and ephemera from Minidoka Internment Camps.

Acknowledgments

The College of Southern Idaho Special Collections and Archives would like to thank the Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), whose financial and advisory support have facilitated the creation of these pages and records. For more information on the NHPRC, visit archives.gov/nhprc.