Bordin, Ruth Birgitta Anderson, 1917-

Ann Arbor, Michigan, historian and writer.

From the description of Ruth Birgitta Anderson Bordin papers, 1940-1992 (bulk 1980-1992). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 81676889

From the description of Ruth Birgitta Anderson Bordin papers, 1980-1987. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34422189

Ruth Bordin was born in Litchfield, Minnesota on November 11, 1917. She received both her B.A.(1938) and M.A.(1941) from the University of Minnesota. She married Edward Bordin in 1941 and devoted the next several years of her life to raising a family. Bordin became professionally active again when she took on the position of curator of manuscripts at the Michigan Historical Collection in 1957. She left in 1967 when she joined the history faculty at Eastern Michigan University, which position she held until 1979. From 1980 until her death, Bordin returned to the Michigan Historical Collections (now the Bentley Historical Library) as a research affiliate where she was responsible for a number of special projects and exhibits, notably the "Nancy and G. Mennen Williams Oral History Project" and "Promise and Performance," an extensive exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Michigan Historical Collections in 1985.

Bordin was a prolific historian and writer. In 1966, she prepared a Pictorial History of the University of Michigan . In the 1980s, she began specializing in women's history writing biographies of Frances Willard and Alice Freeman Palmer and a monograph on the women of the temperance movement. Professionally active, Bordin was a member of the Organization of American Historians and the Women Historian's Organization of the Midwest. She attended meetings of this organizations, often presenting papers or serving as a commentator. Ruth Bordin died in 1994.

From the guide to the Ruth Bordin papers, 1940-1992, 1980-1992, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)