L. Ralston and Editha Thomas Collection

As a result of changing national attitudes toward coeducation, Moses Brown School became a single-sex school in 1926, admitting only boys. From 1925-1955, Head of School, L. Ralston Thomas, navigated a path through many challenges and disruptions of the 1920s, the Depression, and the Second World War. Both Ralston and his wife Editha, a music and theater arts teacher at Moses Brown, served one year with the American Friends Service Committee, volunteering as relief workers in Hungary after World War II. Ralston Thomas remains the longest-serving head with a tenure of 30 years. He and his wife Editha had an enduring impact on the school. Mr. Thomas lived a long life, celebrating his 100th birthday at the school.

The project would include arrangement and description of approximately three full and seven partial (maybe containing only one object or file) boxes containing Ralston and Editha’s records, effects, and memorabilia.