Ruth B. Loving (May 27, 1914-November 25, 2014) was an American activist. She has been called "the mother of civil rights" in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1]
Ruth B. Loving | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ruth B. Stewart May 27, 1914 |
| Died | November 25, 2014 (aged 100) |
| Alma mater | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| Spouse | Minor Loving (m. 1935) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life
editLoving was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania,[2] the youngest of seven children of Alexander and Emma Stewart.[3] Around 1918, she and her family moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where her father worked at the Winchester gun factory.[4] As a young child, Loving wasn't fully aware of racial discrimination, due to the lack of overt racial discrimination in New Haven, but she later became a youth member of the NAACP.[2] She attended the Gregory Street School, where she was the only girl to join their Fife and Drum Corp,[2] and Hillhouse High School, where she studied French.[5]
Adult life
editAfter marrying Minor Loving in 1935, the couple moved to Boston with her husband, where Ruth Loving worked as a singer and her husband worked for a dry cleaning business.[4][6] The family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1939, after Minor Loving's job was relocated.[4] Ruth Loving joined the city's chapter of the NAACP in 1942.[1][7]
In the early 1940s, Loving also began playing with a musical group, Carl Loving and the Trio.[6]
After the Second World War began, Loving volunteered to work as an entertainer for the United Services Organizations in Chicopee.[6][7] In August 1943,[6] she joined the Massachusetts Women’s Defense Corps, a unit of the National Guard. She learned morse code and sent government communications from a secret facility in Springfield.[3][7]
She founded the PTA of Chester Street Junior High, and served as its president in the mid-1950s.[4][7]
In the 1960s, Loving became president of the Springfield NAACP and founded the Springfield Negro Post.[1][4] In 1965, she met both Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks when they visited Springfield.[1] Following King's assassination, then-Mayor Frank H. Freedman made Loving chairperson of the city's first King memorial observance.[3] For the observance, she organized a choir drawn from churches across the city.[8] Following the event, the 'Freedom Choir' remained active and continued to perform.[8]
In 1969, she began working in local radio;[4] she hosted a radio show on WMAS-AM and FM until 2011.[3] That same year, she became the first Black woman certified candidate for the Springfield City Council.[9]
In 1988, Loving earned a bachelor's degree in Community Education and Media at University of Massachusetts Amherst.[10]
In 1995, Loving served as a delegate to the White House Council on Aging.[7] In 1998, Loving initiated the tradition of raising the Black American Heritage Flag in front of Springfield's City Hall during Black History Month.[1]
In her later years, she served as a delegate to the Springfield Council on Aging.[1]
In 2008, she campaigned locally for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.[1]
In 2011, she advocated for the reopening of the Mason Square Library.[1]
Loving died of a heart attack at age 100, while in rehabilitation at Wingate Nursing Home in Springfield following a broken hip.[3]
Honors and awards
editIn 1994, Loving received the Eyes on the Prize award from WGBY-TV.[1]
The Springfield Theological Society conferred Loving an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree in recognition of her contributions to the city.[7]
In 2018, UMASS Amherst began a scholarship in Loving's name, which aims to help fund adult students returning to college later in life.[10][11]
Personal life
editLoving had 3 children.[7] She considered herself a Democrat.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Samantha Stephens, The Republican (2012-02-04). "Ruth Loving at 97: Springfield's Mother of Civil Rights". masslive. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c "Dr. Ruth B. Loving - 1914-1929: World War I and the Great Migration". americancenturies.mass.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c d e Robbins, Carolyn (2014-11-27). "Springfield Civil Rights Movement legend Ruth Stewart Loving dies at 100". masslive. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c d e f "The First Lady of Springfield Civil Rights Movement Turns 100!". www.springfield-ma.gov. 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ "Dr. Ruth B. Loving - 1929-1940: Ruth remembers the Great Depression, her young adult years". americancenturies.mass.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c d "Dr. Ruth B. Loving - 1941-1945: The USO, and the Massachusetts Women's Defense Corps". americancenturies.mass.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g Viles, Chance (2017-06-05). "Forgotten: Springfield's Black History Is Nowhere In Sight". Valley Advocate. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b Tuthill, Paul (2015-02-13). "Annual Black Heritage Event Honors Ruth Loving". WAMC. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ "Councilor Atkins expected to win bid for second term". The Afro-American. 1969-10-04. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
- ^ a b "Ruth B. Loving Scholarship Reaches Endowment : University Without Walls". www.umass.edu. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ "UMass creates scholarship dedicated to civil rights activist". WCVB. Associated Press. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2024-03-06.