The many-sided interests of Ruth May Strang (1895-1971) over her 40 years at Columbia University and the University of Arizona earned international respect for her achievements in the fields of student guidance, reading and communication, child study, mental health, and development and adjustment.

Ruth May Strang was born on April 3, 1895, in Chatham, New Jersey. She grew up in the greater New York City area, spending the first ten years of her life on the family farm in South Jamaica, New York. Her father, Charles Garret Strang, gave up his interest in becoming a lawyer to provide much needed help on the family farm. His career disappointment appeared to leave a strong impression on young Ruth. Her father was the disciplinarian in the family, while her mother, Anna Bergen Strang, a "gentle woman," "always a lady," would be "likely to cry" when the children were bad.

Strang was the youngest...