Over the last semester, the staff at the Archives and Special Collections have had the privilege of working with Katie Mena, an NMSU undergraduate student, as she assisted with processing the Jack DeVere Rittenhouse Collection.  Working under the supervision of Teddie Moreno, Katie has focused on creating an inventory list of the contents of the collection to assist researchers in locating materials.  A lifelong resident of New Mexico, Katie is majoring in English with an emphasis in Language, Literature, and Culture. She plans to pursue a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree. Katie is also the managing editor for the Emily Dickinson Journal, an academic journal published by Johns Hopkins University Press. 

 

In the following blog post, Katie provides a biographical sketch of Jack Rittenhouse. Thank you, Katie, for your help in getting the collection available for researchers!

 

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It seems rather unbelievable that a single person could achieve such diverse accomplishments in one lifetime as successfully operating an advertising agency with high profile oil industry clients, becoming a well-respected authority on the history of the American West through thoughtful research and publication, and operating an antique letterpress printing and publishing operation. However, Jack D. Rittenhouse did just that and much more. Adding to his long list of professional achievement, Rittenhouse served as editor and head of the Museum of New Mexico Press from 1966-68, president of the Historical Society of New Mexico from 1967-1971, and editor of Western American history books at University of New Mexico (UNM) Press from 1968-1978. The Rittenhouse Collection, housed by the NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections, offers a wealth of materials from Rittenhouse’s prolific life.

 

Born on November 15, 1912 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Rittenhouse lived with his family in Phoenix, AZ from 1917-1921: a period of time that would spark his interest in the American West. Most of his childhood and young adult life was spent in Indiana with his family living in Fort Wayne and his attendance at Indiana State Teacher’s College (now Indiana State University). Traveling extensively throughout his life, Rittenhouse pursued a number of intriguing jobs such as newspaper columnist for the Terra Haute (Indiana) News in 1932, mail room worker at publisher Alfred A. Knopf in 1935, and barker for a burlesque show on Broadway in New York City also in 1935. 

 

black and white photograph of a man standing beside an antique printing press
Rittenhouse at Stagecoach Press with antique printing press

A man with a truly fascinating history, Rittenhouse traveled the rails in the Depression-era 1930’s in what he called his “Wanderyear,” and even performed as a magician on a number of occasions during this time. Most notably, his performance of a seven-day “Buried Alive” routine in which he was “hypnotized” and placed in a coffin buried six feet underground, stands out as daring and clever. Without revealing all of his secrets, Rittenhouse details the act and his apparent comfort throughout the performance in chapter four of his autobiography. He writes that he installed a booklight in the coffin and read Melville’s Moby Dick in its entirety during the course of the performance.

 

Rittenhouse became involved in the advertising industry and moved to the West Coast with first wife Beulah Rose Scherrer and their son David in 1941. Rittenhouse served in the California State Guard from 1941-1942 during WWII. Rittenhouse traveled the entirety of Route 66 several times between 1940-1946 in a tiny American Bantam, leading to the publication of his first book, Guide Book to Route 66, the first book published on the subject to gain popularity. Amidst these years of journeys and writing, Rittenhouse’s first marriage ended in divorce and in autumn of 1944 he married Charlotte Jewell High who was to become his lifelong love. The couple had three children together: Douglas, Susan, and Anne. 

 

Rittenhouse had an appreciation for books from an early age which blossomed into an interest in letterpress printing, collecting, and publishing later in life. Rittenhouse researched, and wrote American Horse-Drawn Vehicles which was published by Bonanza Books in 1948.  In 1949, Rittenhouse restored a vintage printing press and began collecting antique type for use at his private press. This press would be named Stagecoach Press in 1951, and produce and publish fifty books of the finest quality on the history of the American West and specifically New Mexico. A move to Houston, Texas, in 1951 to open and operate a branch office for Darwin Clark advertising agency led to Rittenhouse’s creativity being recognized in the ad industry. During this time, numerous awards were presented to his agency for design work on house organs (magazines designed and published for special interest groups, in this case employees and consumers of specific oil industry companies) for companies such as Baroid. Later in 1951, the Darwin Clark branch closed and Rittenhouse started his own advertising agency called Rittenhouse & Co., maintaining various high profile oil industry clients. While pursuing a successful advertising career, Rittenhouse researched, wrote, and published Carriage Hundred: A Bibliography on Horse-Drawn Transportation as well as New Mexico Civil War Bibliography: An Annotated Checklist of Books & Pamphlets in 1961. After merging his business with Marsteller, Rickard, Gebhardt and Reed Inc., and a subsequent closure of the Houston branch, Rittenhouse went full-time with handprinted publishing and rented a small commercial building to run Stagecoach Press out of.

 

black and white photograph of a man wearing a hat sitting on an outcrop of rocks overlooking a desert
Rittenhouse gazing across the desert landscape, presumably at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.

In 1962, Rittenhouse and family moved to Santa Fe, after numerous family vacations to the state that sparked a lifelong interest in New Mexico history. This interest led to Rittenhouse’s research and UNM Press publication of The Santa Fe Trail: A Historical Bibliography as well as the publication of Maverick Tales by Winchester Press in 1971. Stagecoach Press continued to print and publish many books on the history of the American West and New Mexico by various authors, and reprinted historic publications and memoirs related to these subjects. While working for UNM Press from 1968-1978, Rittenhouse closed Stagecoach Press. Rittenhouse served as a lecturer and taught a university level course called the “History and Appreciation of the Book” at UNM starting in 1968. Interestingly, Rittenhouse did not hold a degree after leaving college due to lack of funding, and was therefore referred to as a lecturer rather than professor at UNM. A number of interesting materials from Rittenhouse’s courses are part of the Rittenhouse manuscript collection, including books handmade by students. Upon retiring, Rittenhouse made another notable career shift and focused on antiquarian book collecting and sales with a focus on Western Americana. Rittenhouse composed and distributed catalog lists of book collections offered for sale and became a respected figure in both historical and antiquarian book circles.

 

Diagnosed with cancer in 1989, Rittenhouse began the leviathan process of selling off both his printing equipment and book collections to provide for his wife Charlotte once he had passed. Sadly, Rittenhouse passed away in 1991 at the age of 79. His legacy however, will continue not only through his publications but also through the materials housed in the Rittenhouse collection and made available to researchers. These materials range from Stagecoach Press printing layouts and samples to research files on specific subject matters such as the history of cable cars, bookbinding, mechanical banks, and more that Rittenhouse used to write magazine articles for publication in house organs during his advertising days. Rittenhouse was also integral in the preservation of historic sites across New Mexico and served on the Cultural Properties Review Committee which designated these sites as state registered cultural sites worthy of legal protection. Additionally, while serving as president of the Historical Society of New Mexico, Rittenhouse attempted to start a photo survey project of locations in New Mexico of historic interest that would be photographed every five years to document the progress of change and decay in such locales as ghost towns and early settlements. This photographic survey is now referred to as The Rittenhouse Photographic Survey of New Mexico and is housed in the Rio Grande Historical Collections at NMSU Archives and Special Collections. 

 

Rittenhouse’s autobiography is hosted by his son-in-law Harry Briley at the following website: https://brileyh.weebly.com/rittenhouse-memoir.html.  A working inventory of the Rittenhouse papers is available to researchers by emailing archives@nmsu.edu.