Kennell, Ruth Epperson

Ruth Epperson Kennell (1893- ) was an American author who spent ten years in Russia, 1922 to 1932, and wrote books and short stories for children, often set in Russia. In 1927-1928, Kennell served as secretary and guide to Theodore Dreiser as he toured the Soviet Union, an experience she recounted in Theodore Drieser and the Soviet Union (1969).

Ruth Epperson Kennell, author, was born in Oklahoma City, September 21, 1893, to Julius and Sara Ellen Seeger Epperson. Her Family was relatively poor and her father died of tuberculosis when Kennell was still quite young. Thereafter, she and her mother moved to the San Francisco Bay area as young Ruth's own health was poor. Kennell attended the University of California at Berkeley in 1913, but did not obtain a degree. She married Frank Risley Kennell, a teacher, in 1917.

Kennell had a long and varied writing career, which included ten years spent in the Soviet Union. She began as a children's librarian in the Richmond (California) Public Library (1914-1917). In 1922, she and her husband, Frank, joined the American Colony Kuzbas in Kemerovo, Siberia. The Kuzbas experiment was designed to provide American personnel and techniques to post-revolutionary Russians engaged in rebuilding and industrializing their strife-torn country. Kennel reluctantly left her baby son, James, in the care of his paternal grandmother, Kate Kennell, in order to participate in the Kuzbas colony.

After two years as Kuzbas, serving as librarian and secretary to the colony, Kennell joined the staff of the International Library in Moscow as a reference librarian (1925-1927). In 1927-1928, she was selected to serve as secretary and guide to Theodore Dreiser as he toured the Soviet Union. Her final years in Russia were spent as Russian correspondent for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA). She also wrote articles on the Kuzbas colony and facets of the life in Moscow for The Nation Magazine.

After returning to the U.S., Ms. Kennell concentrated on writing books and short stories for children, often based in Russia, including Vanya of the streets (1931), The Boy, Nikolka (1943) and Adventure in Russia: The Ghost of Khirgizia (1947). Her story, The Secret Farmyard (1956) was based on her second son's (David) real experience. In 1969, she wrote the well-known account of her experience with Drieser, Theodore Drieser and the Soviet Union. The writing of a book on the American Colony Kuzbas in Siberia occupied her last years.

Ruth Epperson Kennell died in 1977.