Case Study: Ruth Hamilton
Case Study: Ruth Hamilton
Instructions SHAPE * MERGEFORMAT
● Read the case study in the section below
● Consider the following assumptions of lifespan development as you read:
a. Growth occurs at every period of life, from conception through elderhood
b. Individual lives show both continuity and developmental change over time
c. We need to understand the whole person, because humans function in an integrated manner
d. Behavior must be interpreted in the context of relevant setting and personal relationships
e. People contribute actively to their development
f. Diversity is a product of the interaction of the biological, the psychological, and the societal systems
● Cite the source(s) you use in APA style and include an APA style reference page. Sources should include are your textbook and any items from the module you reference.
● Answer all questions following the case study
Case Study:
SHAPE * MERGEFORMAT
Ruth Hamilton was born in 1898 and died in 2008. Over her long life, she was a teacher, wife, businesswoman, radio talk show host, legislator, and world traveler. Ruth’s advice: “No matter what your age, keep learning. Put this motto on your mirror so that you’ll see it: Every day without learning something is a day lost” (Enkelis, 2000, p. 95).
Ruth grew up in the farming town of Alta, Iowa, where she graduated from high school and went on to Iowa State Teacher’s College. “At that time, they needed teachers so badly in the country school that they had crash courses,” Ruth recalls. “We could get the two years of training that was needed for a teaching certificate in twelve weeks, but we had to go to school night and day to do it” (Enkelis, 2000, pp. 91-92). She began teaching in a one-room country schoolhouse with children in first, second, fourth, and eighth grades. “All the kids could hear all of the recitations. It was fascinating. I think all the kids benefited, “Ruth noted (Enkelis, p. 92).
In July 1920, Ruth met Carter Hamilton while she was watching a sandlot baseball game during a 4th of July celebration. She and Carter fell in love. Carter had been drafted by the Cleveland Indians, and when he came to say goodbye, he said he’d like her to come with him, but he knew her parents wouldn’t agree unless they were married, so he thought getting married would be a good idea. Ruth took half a day off from teaching, and they went to Des Moines and were married 8 months after they met. Since married women could not teach (a widespread practice in the United States at the turn of the 20th century), she tried to keep it a secret. But her students found out and told other teachers. She had to go before the school board, and they agreed to change the rules.
Carter played basketball in the summers and went to college and later to medical school in the off-season. Once Carter completed his internship they settled in Iowa for a while. Carter wanted Ruth to give up teaching and stay at home, but Ruth could never accept this role. She was an energetic, curious, and active person. Even after they adopted their son Peter, she continued to pursue her own interests.
While in Iowa, Ruth continued teaching. Then Carter’s specialization as a radiologist took them to Philadelphia. When they moved to Philadelphia, Ruth expanded her professional life by teaching over the radio. In the 1930s, Ruth was one of America’s first female radio talk show hosts. On a whim, Ruth got a loan and bought a building where she set up a women’s dress shop. She operated the shop successfully for two years and then sold the building for $2,000.00 profit. With that money, she bought a log cabin and 10 acres of land in New Hampshire, where she and her husband vacationed.
In 1937, Ruth began what was to become a lifelong interest in travel. She took a two-month trip to Europe to explore her family history, including travel to Denmark and Sweden. At this time, she went to Berlin where she remembers seeing Adolph Hitler and having a glimpse of his magnetism and the way women swooned when they saw him. She became well aware of how dangerous he was and tried to talk to people back home about this.
Following Carter’s death in 1948, Ruth moved into the cabin in New Hampshire. From the ages of 50 to 90, Ruth developed a life of international travel and political leadership. She traveled extensively beginning in the 1950s through 1990, giving lectures and writing articles about the countries she visited. She became involved in politics, including the political campaigns of Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter. She was the first woman elected to the New Hampshire legislature, where she was elected twice from 1964 to 1973. She took an active role in legislative issues, including reducing the legal voting age, issues related to wiretapping and eavesdropping, and legislation to have inspections and licensing for residential homes that care for senior citizens. In 1986, she was honored as an “Unsung Heroine” by the Claremont New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women.
In her 90s Ruth moved to an assisted living community in Florida where she became a member of “Growing Bolder”, a social networking site for older adults. At age 109, she was recognized on that site as the world’s oldest video blogger. You can watch her blog about the power of curiosity at Ruth1898 on the Power of Curiosity.
Ruth was an amazingly active, enthusiastic, outgoing person. She once said, “I just wish I could live to be one thousand years old because there are so many things that I want to see improved” (Enkelis, p. 95).
Imagine for a moment living for more than 100 years into an unknowable future. Think of Ruth Hamilton, starting out as a teacher in a one-room country school and eventually sharing her thoughts over Internet as a videoblogger. Finding love in a most unexpected way, adopting a son, hosting a radio talk show, traveling the world, advocating for the young and the old – these are all segments of agency – her ability to set goals and make things happen to achieve these goals – her curiousity, and her love of learning propelled her though challenges, losses, and accomplishments from one chapter of her life to the next.
Questions:
SHAPE * MERGEFORMAT
You were presented with theory and research about how individuals make sense of their experiences, cope with challenges, and continue to develop from one period to the next. This process is an individual’s life story. Stories are influence by the quality of one’s social relationships as well as factors such as gender, ethnicity, cultural identity, health, socioeconomic statues, education, sexual orientation, physical abilities and disabilities, and historical and social contexts. Consider the lifespan approach to human development and the life of Ruth Hamilton.
1. Make a list of examples from her life of each of the six assumptions listed in the instructions section above.
Question 1 Answer:
2. Make a list of how the factors in Ruth’s life shaped her story.
Question 2 Answer:
3. Write a long paragraph about the three assumptions and the three factors that most influenced and characterized Ruth’s long life and her personal development.
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