Ruth Faison Shaw was an artist, teacher, and art therapist who lived in North Carolina, New York, and Rome, finally settling in Chapel Hill, N.C. She was a proponent of using finger painting in education and therapy work. The collection includes personal and professional correspondence of Ruth Faison Shaw; writings; subject files; photographs; Shaw and Faison family history materials; materials related to the use of art therapy, especially finger painting, with disturbed children and military veterans; and other items. Most of the correspondence dates after 1940. Many of the letters were written by friends and relatives to Shaw, but there are several letters she wrote. Letters discuss activities of friends and family, art and art therapy, theater, and various business activities. There are references to finger painting as therapy in the rehabilitation of World War II soldiers. There are also financial and legal documents, 1919-1968; subject files compiled by Shaw, most having to do with finger painting, hospitals, and psychiatric treatment; articles and other writings by or about Shaw or her areas of interest; printed materials; clippings; photographs, including images of Shaw family members, of Shaw demonstrating fingerpainting techniques, and of Shaw's finger paintings; photograph albums, chiefly documenting Shaw's travels in France immediately after World War I and her years spent in Rome and in New York; artwork; and other items.
