Ida Copeland Ridgway was born on November 4, 1905 in Philadelphia, daughter of Joseph W. Ridgway. She attended Hunter College High School and Flushing High School before entering Mount Holyoke College in 1923. In 1925 she took a leave of absence due to ill health, but regained her strength in 1926 and resumed her education. However, she again became ill, and died of tubercular menigitis on May 8, 1927 in the College Infirmary.
From the guide to the Ridgway Papers MS 0618., 1922-1926., (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)