Résumé

Owner, Flower Nursery, Saint Petersburg, FL, c. 1940. Principal, Wallace M. Ruff, Sr., Landscape Architect, Eugene, OR, c. 1952-1973; Partner, Ruff, Cameron, Lacoss and Associates, Landscape Architects, Eugene, OR, 1973- . According to his obituary in 1999, "Many Northwest landscape architects worked in his office while they were UO students." (See "Wallace 'Mack' Ruff," Eugene Register-Guard, 10/13/1999, p. 4F.) Ruff, Cameron, Lacoss and Associates had a diverse practice, that included educational, public park, commercial and residential commissions.

Teaching

Graduate student, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, c. 1950; Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, c. 1951-1952. Assistant/Associate/Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon (U of O), Eugene, OR, 1952-1976. Ruff was Acting Head, U of O, Department of Landscape Architecture, Eugene, OR, c. 1969-1971. For about 20 years, Ruff served as one of three core professors in the U of O's Landscape Architecture Department, along with Frederick A. Cuthbert and George S. Jette.

Ruff took three sabbaticals all of which spent some time in Papua-New Guinea. According to the book Landscape Architectural Education: "October 1959 Associate Professor Wallace M. Ruff, of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, is on sabbatical leave during the 1959-60 academic year. He and his family are making a trip around the world including Hawaii, islands of the South Seas, Australia, and parts of Africa. They will spend about six months in Australia. It is Mr. Ruff's intention to investigate plants which might have landscape value in the climate of the Pacific Northwest." (See Gary O. Robinette, Landscape Architectural Education, Volume 1, [Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1973], p. 179.) His second sabbatical occurred c. 1967, and a third was made in 1974. According to his obituary, "He and his family made two sabbatical trips to the country during the next 10 years. He used his third sabbatical in 1974 to lecture at the Papua New Guine University of Technology." (See "Wallace 'Mack' Ruff," Eugene Register-Guard, 10/13/1999, p. 4F.)

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA); member, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); member, Royal Horticulture Society of Great Britain.

College

B.S.of Landscape Design, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 1934; his senior thesis was a handbook for students of landscape architecture. MSLA, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, 1948-1950.

Relocation

Wallace M. Ruff, Sr., was born in Bluefield, WV, on 06/04/1912, into a comfortable, middle-class family. His father, John W. Ruff, operated the Bluefield Hardware Company and was active in the town's commercial affairs. In 1912, the Ruff Family resided at 120 Summers Street in Bluefield, WV. (See R.L. Polk & Company's Bluefield Directory 1912-1913, p. 229.)

Wallace's father, moved his wife and six children to Pinellas County, FL, by 1920, residing at 516 12th Avenue NE in Saint Petersburg, FL. (See Ancestry.com, Source CitationYear: 1920; Census Place: St Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida; Roll: T625_229; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 134; Image: 679,accessed 02/08/2016.) A decade later, John had retired, but six of his children still lived at home. Only one, daughter Elizabeth, had a job. (She worked as a school teacher.) The family continued to live at 516 12th Avenue NE, in a house worth a substantial $25,000. The family was so comfortable that it could afford a live-in servant, Annie Smith (born c. 1894 in FL).

Wallace Ruff spent approxiamtely four years--1930-1934-- living in Gainesville, FL, while attending the University of Florida.

After college, Wallace lived with his family at the 516 12th Avenue NE house in 1935 and 1936. (See Source Information Ancestry.com. Florida, State Census, 1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008, accessed 02/08/2016.) In the latter year, Wallace was listed as a student in the Saint Petersburg City Directory. (See Saint Petersburg City Directory, 1936, p. 351.) The Ruff Family residence had a value of only $10,000 according to the 1940 US Census, a drop of $15,000. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: St Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida; Roll: T627_609; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 52-15 accessed 02/08/2016.)

In 1942, Ruff was in the South Pacific on a US Navy ship, searching for survivors of Japanese attacks on Allied ships. While in the region, he became aware of Pacific Islander material culture, an interest that would grow over time, becoming a major focus of his later scholarly research.

For the majoirity of the period 1952-1976, Ruff and his family made Eugene, OR, their home, despite frequent travel. He and his wife, Ruth, moved to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1976, although it seems that they traveled to and from Eugene periodically between 1976 and her death in 1984. During their extended stays in PNG, Ruth and Wallace documented the country's changing customs and material culture, creating a large collection of objects, A selection from their collection was shown in an exhibit, "Faces of Papua New Guinea," held from 02/02/1996-05/19/1996 at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI. According to the museum's web site: "Discover the 'faces' of the people of Papua New Guinea in an exhibition exploring three "bigmen" cultures. Visitors will see sacred masks, shields, houses, and other rare objects used in daily life and in special ceremonies. Drawings, photographs, and many different artifacts will be on display, giving an excellent view and understanding of present day New Guinea lifestyles. The collection represents ten years of field work by Ruth E. and Wallace M. Ruff, and is considered one of the best collections in the world of New Guinea's cultures." (See Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, "Past Exhibits," accessed 02/08/2016.) After Ruth's death, Wallace carried on their PNG research, maintaining a place in PNG, and a residence at 1873 Garden Avenue in Eugene.

Scholars of South Pacific vernacular architecture have acknowledged the importance of the Ruffs' early work on the disappearing architecture of PNG. Architectural historians Memmot and Davidson wrote in an article surveying the development of South Pacific architectural history scholarship: "One early inspirational scholar (from outside the region) who has not been adequately credited was the American-born Professor Wallace “Mack” Ruff (1912-99) who established the Architectural Heritage Centre of Papua New Guinea in the Department of Architecture at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology in Lae. This ethno-architectural programme started as the Village Studies Program in 1973 and continued until 1981." (See Paul Memmott and James Davidson, "Indigenous Culture and Architecture in the South Pacific Region 25 Years of SAHANZ Research," Fabrications, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 18, no. 1, 2008, p. 78-79.)

On 10/08/1999, during a period when he taught at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology,thieves broke into Wallace M. Ruff, Sr's house on Sogeri Drive in Lae, PNG, Using the machetes or bush knives favored by locals, the intruders murdered the 87-year-old scholar. (Some sources have listed his death as having occurred on 10/09/1999 while others place it on 10/08/1999. PNG is 18 hours ahead of Pacifc Daylight Time, so what was 10/09 in PNG was 10/08 in the US.) While the motive seems to have been a robbery, some foreigners have been targeted as malevolent spiritual intruders.

In 2000, portions of the Ruff Collection were accessioned by the University of Washington's Burke Museum.

Parents

His father was Jonathan William Ruff (1860-1945), his mother, Lydia Miller England (1875-1966). They married on 10/03/1899 in Alleghany. VA, his father being 15 years older than his mother; John finished four years of college, Lydia completed high school. J.W. Ruff was theson of William Alexander Anderson and Mary Elizabeth Moore Ruff. He worked in the hardware business, and became the President of the Bluefield, WV, Hardware Company (c. 1908) and the Logan, WV, Hardware Company. J.W. was also on the Board of Directors of the Bluefield Traction Company in 1908. (This company was known as the Bluestone Traction Company by 1911.) Lydia England, the daughter of Dr. Joseph Root England (1842-1912) and Annie Elizabeth McAllister (1850-1924), was born in Covington, VA. They had seven children, three girls (one of whom died in early childhood) and four boys, of which Wallace M. was the youngest.

Spouse

Wallace met his wife, Ruth Redmond, (1924-1984), in Eugene, OR. She traveled the world with him, and moved to Papua-New Guinea with her husband in 1976.

Children

He and his wife had three children, two daughters, Jody Ruff-Harcourt (b. 09/11/1953), and Daphne Ruff (b. 06/28/1958), and a son, Wallace M. Ruff, Jr., (1956-1984). Wallace, Jr.,was a graduate of South Eugene High School, Eugene, OR. Both Ruff daughters resided in CA.

Wallace Ruff, Sr., arranged for a park to be named in his son's honor. According to the Willamalane Park and Recreation District site on the park: "Ruff Park was founded by Wallace M. “Mack” Ruff Sr., who donated the property after the death of his son, Wallace M. Ruff Jr., who farmed flowers there as a young student. Ruff Sr. was a landscape architect, anthropologist and magnolia enthusiast. Friends banded together to continue Ruff Sr.’s vision for the park after his death in 1999." The park is located at 1161 66th Street in Eugene, OR.

Biographical Notes

He was nicknamed "Mack."

Ruff traveled extensively, including periodic travel to the island of New Guinea. He traveled from London, UK to New York, NY, via the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), arriving on 09/11/1950. (See Ancestry.com, Source CitationYear: 1950; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 7887; Line: 5; Page Number: 32, accessed 02/08/2016.)

Ruff, his wife, and two children sailed aboard the S.S. Oronsay from Vancouver, BC, to Tilbury, UK, arriving in the latter city on 08/22/1960. They were to stay in London for one week, according to the ship's manifest. (See Ancestry,com, Source Citation The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 1459; Item: 111, accessed 02/08/2016.)

SSN: 569-40-4820.

• Bluefield, WV (Architect's Birth)
  Bluefield, WV

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