*       NOTES AND DOCUMENTS
Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame-
Kent Ruth
By Bob L. Blackburn
Delivered at the OHS Annual Awards Banquet, April 24, 1998
Oklahomans have a weak spot in their hearts for the self-made
man or woman. That age-old story of adversity met and challenges
conquered is especially appealing. Our next inductee, Kent Ruth,
is the epitome of the self-made historian.
Born in Geary on Christmas day, 1916, Kent Ruth was afflicted
at seven months with polio. Through the love and support of his
family, and the inner strength of the man and his faith, Kent saw
no boundaries. He attended the University of Oklahoma (OU),
where he earned a B.A. and an M.A. He wanted to be a writer.
Kent, maturing during the golden age of regionalism, wrote
western pulp fiction for five-sixths cent a word. He earned five dol-
lars for his first article published in Wild West Weekly. Other sto-
ries were carried by magazines and newspapers across the coun-
try. In 1950 he found a regular outlet for his regional writing when
the Daily Oklahoman hired him to write a weekly column on
travel. Each summer for the next thirty years, Kent, his sister
Helen, and their friend Betty Armstrong would spend four to six
weeks on the road gathering information for the column.
As his travel writing matured, he included more and more re-
gional, state, and local history to make trip planning more produc-
tive. This led to other writing opportunities, such as Oklahoma: A
Guide to the Sooner State for OU, Colorado Vacations for Knopf,
Great Day in the West for OU, Touring the Old West for Nebraska,
Oklahoma Travel Handbook for OU, and Trip Teasers. In 1969
Kent was hired by the OHS to write nominations for the National
Register of Historic Places. He turned out almost 500 forms. That
experience led to still other writing opportunities such as the "Win-
dow on the Past" column for the Daily Oklahoman and the book
Window on the Past for the OHS. I then had the joy of working with
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