Ruby Middleton Forsythe
{{Infobox person
| name = Ruby Middleton Forsythe
| image = Photo of Ruby Middleton Forsythe.jpg
| alt =
| caption = 1987 portrait by Brian Lanker{{cite web |last1=Lanker |first1=Brian |title=Ruby M. Forsythe |url=https://www.brianlanker.com/photographs/page/2/#group-10 |website=The Photography of Brian Lanker |accessdate=11 February 2019 |archive-date=12 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011321/https://www.brianlanker.com/photographs/page/2/#group-10 |url-status=live }}
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|6|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Charleston, South Carolina
| death_date = {{death date and age|1992|5|29|1905|6|27||mf=y}}
| death_place = Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
| nationality = American
| education = Avery Institute
South Carolina State College
| alma_mater =
| other_names =
| occupation = Educator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = William Essex Forsythe
}}
Ruby Middleton Forsythe (1905–1992) was an elementary school teacher in South Carolina. She was known for providing education to the African-American community during the "Jim Crow" era.{{cite book |last1=Spruill |first1=Marjorie Julian |last2=Littlefield |first2=Valinda W. |last3=Johnson |first3=Joan Marie |title=South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times, Volume 3 |date=2012 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=9780820343815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-dLsAIdYa8C&q=Ruby+Forsythe&pg=PA33 |language=en |access-date=2020-10-28 |archive-date=2024-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710221842/https://books.google.com/books?id=9-dLsAIdYa8C&q=Ruby+Forsythe&pg=PA33#v=snippet&q=Ruby%20Forsythe&f=false |url-status=live }} She was the recipient of four honorary doctorates, with a career that spanned more than six decades.
Biography
Forsythe née Middleton was born in Charleston, South Carolina on June 27, 1905. In 1921 she earned her education certificate from the Avery Institute.{{cite web |title=A teacher in its truest sense, Ruby Forsythe |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/a-teacher-in-its-truest-sense-ruby-forsythe/ |website=African American Registry |accessdate=10 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=12 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212070451/https://aaregistry.org/story/a-teacher-in-its-truest-sense-ruby-forsythe/ |url-status=live }} She went on to earn a BS degree from South Carolina State College.{{cite web |title=Ruby Middleton Forsythe |url=https://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/ruby-middleton-forsythe/ |website=South Carolina African American History Calendar |accessdate=10 February 2019 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710221827/https://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/ruby-middleton-forsythe/ |url-status=live }}
While she was starting her teaching career in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, she married the Reverend William Essex Forsythe, who ran the Holy Cross-Faith Memorial Church and School on Pawleys Island, South Carolina. She continued to teach in Mount Pleasant and care for her parents, visiting Reverend Forsythe when she could. In 1938, she joined her husband on Pawley's Island, and taught in a one-room school—the only local educational facility open to African-American children at that time.
Affectionately known as "Miss Ruby", Forsythe taught for more than six decades, even though she and her students were harassed by the Ku Klux Klan.{{cite book |last=Lanker |first=Brian |title=I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women who Changed America |date=1999 |publisher=Stewart, Tabori & Chang |isbn=1556708882 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ifjtgAACAAJ |language=en |access-date=2020-10-28 |archive-date=2024-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710221827/https://books.google.com/books?id=7ifjtgAACAAJ |url-status=live }} She received four honorary doctorates, and was one of the subjects of the book I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America, a collection of interviews and photographs by Brian Lanker.
Forsythe died in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on May 29, 1992.{{cite web |title=Ruby Middleton Forsythe: Pioneer Educator in Charleston, SC |url=https://blackthen.com/ruby-middleton-forsythe-pioneer-educator-in-charleston-sc/ |website=Black Then |accessdate=18 September 2019 |date=29 September 2018 |archive-date=19 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719201604/https://blackthen.com/ruby-middleton-forsythe-pioneer-educator-in-charleston-sc/ |url-status=live }}
References
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Category:Educators from South Carolina
Category:People from Charleston, South Carolina
Category:South Carolina State University alumni
Category:20th-century American educators
Category:20th-century American women educators