%eadnotat; ]> 5109pain An Inventory of the Ruth Hyde Paine Marina Oswald Papers, 1963-1968 Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 1985 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, December 2000. ENG Ruth Hyde Paine Marina Oswald Papers, 1963-1968 FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 1985 Descriptive Summary Marina Oswald Papers, 1963-1968 RG 5/109 Ruth Hyde Paine 2 boxes; 1 linear ft. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog Ruth Hyde Paine (b. 1932), a Quaker who was living in Texas in 1963, befriended Marina Oswald. Marina was living at Ruth Paine's home at the time that her husband, Lee Oswald, assassinated President John F. Kennedy. This collection consists primarily of correspondence of Ruth Hyde Paine documenting her friendship with Marina Oswald, then the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399

Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728

 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL 1932, 1951-1957Ruth Hyde, daughter of William and Carol E. Hyde, was born in New York in Sept. 1932, but was brought up in Columbus, Ohio. In 1951 she formally joined the Religious Society of Friends. She graduated from Antioch College in Ohio and then went to Philadelphia to become playground director and teacher of folk-dancing at Germantown Friends School. While there she met Michael R. Paine, whose family was from the Philadelphia area, and they were married under the care of Providence Monthly Meeting, Media, in 1957. 1959, 1961-Feb. 1963After their marriage, Ruth and Michael moved to Irving, Texas. They had two children, Lynn born Nov. 1959, and Christopher born Feb. 1961. Ruth H. Paine, who had separated from her husband in September 1962, first met Lee and Marina Oswald in February of 1963. Feb. 1963-May 1963She was immediately attracted to Marina Oswald as another young mother and also as someone with whom she could speak Russian, and they quickly became friends. They never spoke about politics, but about their homes and families. Ruth learned that Marina was expecting another child in October and had no friends. Her husband refused to speak English with her, so she was having great difficulty in learning to communicate in English. Lee Oswald was also trying to get Marina to return to the Soviet Union, but she liked America and wanted to remain. As an alternative to returning to Russia, Ruth suggested that Marina and her daughter stay with her while Lee found a job in New Orleans. They came to live with Ruth and her children on April 24, 1963. Lee called on May 9th to say that he had found a job, and Ruth drove Marina the next day. Sept 1963-Oct 1963Marina returned to Irving towards the end of September 1963 to again stay with Ruth Paine. Some time later Lee Oswald also returned to Texas where he took a room in a boarding house under an assumed name. He visited Marina at Ruth's home on the weekends. Marina's second daughter was born in Oct. 20, 1963. mid-October 1963-March 1964In the middle of October, Lee Oswald got a job at School Book Depository. On Thursday, Nov. 21st, Lee arrived unexpectedly, and after supper went to Ruth's garage, where the Oswalds had stored some of their belongings, including Lee's high-powered rifle, wrapped in an old blanket. Later that morning Ruth and Marina were watching the Kennedy procession on television when the shooting was announced. Soon after, the Paine house was searched by police. Marina left Ruth's home the next morning with the intention of seeing Lee at the Dallas County Jail. She went in company with her two children, her mother-in-law, Marguerite Oswald, a newsman from Life Magazine, and a translator employed by Life. She elected not to return that evening, and the next day, after her husband had been shot by Jack Ruby, was provided protection by the Secret Service until she testified before the Warren Commission in March, 1964. 1963-1964Ruth did not see Marina again until March 1964, after Marina had been to testify before the Warren Commission, and before Ruth gave her own testimony. Few people knew how to reach Marina, so many tried to contact her through Ruth Paine, who replied and passed the letters on to Marina through the Secret Service. She was besieged by reporters, offers of magazine stories, questioned by the FBI, and subpoenaed to testify before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, also known as the Warren Commission. The letters she and Marina had written to each other in Russian were translated into English by Ruth and given to the Commission as exhibits. 1970, 1971-1981Ruth and Michael Paine were divorced in 1970, and Ruth moved to Philadelphia with her children in 1971, and took a job as Principal of Greene Street Friends School. In 1981 she became a school psychologist for the Franklin County Public Schools in the Florida. SCOPE AND CONTENT

This collection consists primarily of correspondence of Ruth Hyde Paine documenting her friendship with Marina Oswald, then the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, along with related material.

 Arrangement

The collection is divided into six series:

Correspondence, 1963-1966 Material concerning the Warren Commission Grand Jury investigation, New Orleans, 1968 Articles and related papers Audio-visual (interviews) Miscellaneous memorabilia. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

Donor: Ruth Hyde Paine, 1985

 Access

Collection is open for research.

 Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

 Preferred Citation

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Ruth Paine Hyde Marina Oswald Papers, RG5/109, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

The following material, originally part of the collection, has been recatalogued:

Tapes filed with other reel-to-reel tapes. Film in Series 3 stored with FHL motion picture collection. SELECTED SEARCH TERMS Materials catalogued separately

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings: Researchers are advised to search by subject and author, when applicable.

Paine, Ruth Hyde Oswald, Marina, 1941- Oswald, Lee Harvey Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination United States. Warren Commission Quakers - Texas Quakers - Controversies DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below:

 Ser. 1. Correspondence, 1963-1966 Letters of concern for Marina Oswald and her two small daughters, sent to Ruth Paine11/24/1963 to 11/22/1964 1

Some also expressed concern for Mrs. Paine, and some included donations of money for Mrs. Oswald.

 Letters of Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald Spring 1963 2

translated from Russian.

 Letters about checks sent to MarinaDec. 1963 and Jun. 1964 2 Letters to Ruth from her mother, Carol Hyde Dec. 1963 to Feb. 1964 2 Letter from Texas Employment Commission Jan. 1964 2 Letters from Civil Liberties Union Jan. 1964 2 Letters1965-1966 2 Letters concerning Kennedy memorabilia collection 1965-1966 2 Ser. 2. President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy Correspondence with J. Lee Rankin, General Counsel 2

Concerning the testimony of Ruth and Michael Paine before the Commission in March, 1964, and about the exhibits submitted by them to the Commission.

 Lists of numbered exhibits, including copies of the letters in Russian exchanged by Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald during 1963, and Ruth's translations of these letters into English. 2 Original letter written by Lee Harvey Oswald, and transcription by Ruth Paine 2 Ruth Paine's address book and date calendar for 1963 2 Ser. 3. Grand Jury Investigation, New Orleans, 1968. One folder, with reference to an article written by a Philadelphia lawyer on the investigation. 1968 2 Ser. 4. Writings: Newspaper and magazine articles, with correspondence, 1963-1964 Article and letters by David Andrews, of Baltimore 1963-1964 2 References to story in The World-Telegram, by Lee Townsend Nov., Dec. 1963. 2 Articles in New York Journal-American, by Guy RichardsDec. 1963, Jan. 1964 2 Letters about article in The Houston Post by Lonny Hudkins 2

On interview with Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, 12/30/1963.

 Manuscript and correspondence with George Harris, editor of Look magazine, and also Norman Cousins of Saturday Review, concerning a proposed article for Look written by Ruth Paine in Dec. 1963, but never published. 2 Letters from William Manchester, author of The Death of a President, setting up interviews with Ruth Paine Jun. 1964, published 1967 2 Correspondence with Jessamyn West Feb. to Sept. 1964 2

About West's article published in Redbook magazine, July 1964, titled "Prelude to Tragedy: The woman who sheltered Lee Oswald's family tells her story."

 Articles and correspondence with Helen Yenne concerning New York Herald Tribune articles published by Yenne in May and Sept. 1964. 2 Correspondence with Priscilla (Johnson) Mc Millan, Aug. 1964-Apr. 1965 2

McMillan was the author of author of "Marina and Lee," which was not published by Harper until 1977.

 Photocopies of newspaper articles Nov. 1963-Oct. 1964, and n.d. 2 Transcript of CBS News Extra, "Nov. 22nd and the Warren Report", broadcast 9/27/1964 with Walker Cronkite and Dan Rather. 2 5. Audio-visual materials, 1964, n.d. Filmed interview (16 mm.) of Ruth Paine by Jessamyn West, filed with moving picture films. (Reel 87) 2 Taped interview for Canadian TV with Ruth Paine Jun. 1964 (Tape 143) 2 Taped documentary on the assassination, hour-long (Tape 142) 2 Taped interview with Ruth Paine for NBC and ABC television. (Tape 141) 2 Taped interview with Shirley Martin (Tapes 143-4) 2 6. Memorabilia, 1963, n.d. Petition for divorce 11/13/1963 2 Loose papers 2