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Conditions Governing Access

Requires signed form, since special access restriction applies. All or part of this collection is stored offsite. Please make an appointment prior to visiting.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Betty Lou Ramsey, Professor of Interior Design, Papers, A&M 5201, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Betty Lou Ramsey (February 23, 1929 - July 19, 2014) was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, to parents Beatrice Wilson and Willie Ray Ramsey. She had one sister, Effie Lucille Ramsey (1921-2006). Ms. Ramsey graduated from Belington High School and attended West Virginia University, earning her bachelor's degree in 1951. Then she began teaching at Buckhannon Upshur High School and served as a Critic Teacher at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She then earned a graduate degree from University of Tennessee and returned to WVU to teach in 1955 or 1956. In the early 1960s, she was asked to develop an Interior Design Program and Studio in the College of Human Resources (that program was later transitioned to the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design). She retired in 1985. Later in life, she became interested in gardening and genealogy. She was a member of the James Barbour Chapter of the DAR and Clan Ramsey Association of North America.

Scope and Contents

Personal and professional papers of Betty Lou Ramsey (1929-2014), Professor Emerita and founder of the Interior Design Program at West Virginia University. This collection is unprocessed. Collection includes curriculum files, student papers, children's pedagogical material, business papers, travel records, personal papers, artifacts, and books.

Curriculum files include background research and other papers pertaining to classes on the history of art and architecture; interior design; furniture; housing for the elderly and disabled; American studies; art and architectural styles of China, Japan, Egypt, Italy, the Victorian period; and more. Formats of the curriculum files include typescripts, clippings, slides, cassette tapes, and more.

Personal papers include correspondence, material related to Ms. Ramsey's sister, Effie Lucille Ramsey (1921-2006), and genealogical and family history research, much of which centered on Barbour and Randolph Counties, and the Ramsey/Ramsay family name.

Artifacts include a Little Country Doctor playset (1937), textiles, crocheted items, patterns for clothing, hats, shoes, handbags, and more.

Book subjects include world history, art, interior design, genealogy, and more. The collection includes material in addition to what is described.

Related Material

4246, 5201

Separated Material

Books and periodicals separated to WVRHC main stacks, Rare Book Room, or WVU Library collection:

1923 Atlas of the World and Gazetteer: Containing New Maps of the Principal Countries of the World and Separate Maps of Each American State and Territory, the Canadian Provinces, Etc., Etc. : Accompanied by Individual Indexes of Each State, Province, Etc. and a Descriptive Gazetteer of the Principal Countries of the World . New York: Funk and Wagnalls Co, 1923. Print.

Battersby, Martin. The Decorative Twenties . New York: Walker, 1969. Print.

Carpenter, Frank G. Carpenters's Geographical Reader: Asia . New York: American Book Co, 1897. Print.

Carpenter, Frank G. Carpenter's Geographical Reader: Europe . New York: American Book Co, 1912. Print.

Chamberlain, Samuel, and Narcissa G. Chamberlain. Southern Interiors of Charleston, South Carolina . New York: Hastings House, 1956. Print.

Clark, Robert J. The Arts and Crafts Movement in America , 1876-1916. Princeton, N.J.: distributed by Princeton University Press, 1972. Print.

Goldenseal Volume 5: Issue 3. Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1999.

Goldenseal Volume 24: Issue 1. Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1998.

Goldenseal Volume 22: Issue 4. Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1996.

Goldenseal Volume 20: Issue 4. Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1994.

Goldenseal Volume 23: Issue 1. Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1997.

Harsh, Sharon W. School Board Minutes, Enumeration Lists, and Account Records: Barbour County, West Virginia, Township of Barker, 1870-1890, Independent District of Belington, 1893-1899 . Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 2000. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter . Cleveland ; New York : The World Publishing Company, 1946. Print.

Johnes, Raymond P. Japanese Art . London: Spring Books, 1961.

Johnston, Ross B. West Virginia Estate Settlements: An Index to Wills, Inventories, Appraisements, Land Grants, and Surveys to 1850 . Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co, 1988. Print.

La Fayette: The History and Genealogy of Fayette County, Pennsylvania . Laughlintown, PA: Southwest Pennsylvania Genealogical Services. I.1 to II.4, April 1981 to January 1983.

McCoubrey, John W. American Art, 1700-1960: Sources and Documents . Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1965. Print.

Novak, Barbara. American Painting of the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism, and the American Experience . New York: Praeger, 1969. Print.

Polley, Robert L. America's Historic Houses: The Living Past . New York: Putnam, 1967. Print.

Stone, Robert H. Wild Garlic Islands: A Genealogical Account of the Ramsey Family (Up-Dated Version) . Springfield, MO (1439 S. Kansas, Springfield 65807): R.H. Stone, 1986. Print.

Stone, Robert H. Wild Garlic Islands: A Genealogical Account of the Ramsey Family . Springfield, MO (1439 S. Kansas, Springfield 65807): R.H. Stone, 1983. Print.

Toothman, Rick. Monongalia County (West) Virginia Deedbook Records, 1784-1810 (old Series Volumes 1-4) . Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 1994. Print.

Wahll, Andrew J. Braddock Road Chronicles, 1755 . Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 1999. Print.

Weed, Clarence M. Butterflies Worth Knowing . Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1917. Print.

Whittier, John G. Child Life: Selections from the Collection . Boston: Houghton, 1894. Print.

Zinn, Melba P. Monongalia County, (West) Virginia, Records of the District, Superior, and County Courts . Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 1990. Print. [This includes volumes 1-11]

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Architecture.
• Art -- History
• Interior decoration
• Ramsey, Betty Lou
• West Virginia University