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Ruth Ellis (activist)
Ruth Charlotte Ellis (July 23, 1899 – October 5, 2000) was an African-American LGBT rights activist and the one of the oldest surviving open lesbians at the age of 101. Her life is celebrated in Yvonne Welbon's documentary film Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100.
Ellis was born in Springfield, Illinois, on July 23, 1899. She was the youngest of four children and the only girl. Ellis' mother, Carrie Farro Ellis, died when she was a teen, while her father, Charles Ellis Sr., was the first African-American mail carrier in Illinois. Ellis Sr.'s appointment was controversial and he was called a racial slur in a Springfield newspaper following his appointment. Along with the racism her father faced, Ruth Ellis was exposed to much racism and racial violence in her upbringing. As a young child, Ellis witnessed Springfield race riot of 1908, during which her father defended their home with a sword from their front porch.
Ellis became open about her identity as a lesbian around 1915, but claims to never have had to come out, as her family was accepting of her orientation. She graduated from Springfield High School in 1919, at a time when fewer than seven percent of African Americans graduated from secondary school. In the 1920s, she met the only woman she ever lived with, Ceciline "Babe" Franklin.
Ellis worked for a printing company in the 1920s. She learned printing and typesetting while working at Black-owned print shop I.E. Foster & Co.
Ellis and Franklin moved to Detroit together in 1937. Like many other African Americans in the Great Migration, they sought better employment opportunities in the city. Like many other African American women, Ellis found work in the domestic sphere: she babysat a young boy in Highland Park, for $7 a week.
She then got a printing position with Waterfield and Heath, where she worked until opening her own press out of the West Side home she shared with Franklin. Their printing business, the Ellis & Franklin Printing Co., was the first woman-owned printing shop in the state of Michigan.
Her hobbies included dance, bowling, painting, piano, and photography.
Ellis lived with Babe Franklin mostly in the period prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the national Gay liberation movement, during which black queer people in Detroit were often excluded from white queer spaces. Ellis and Franklin's house was known in the African-American community as the "gay spot," a central location for gay and lesbian parties, particularly as a refuge for African-American gays and lesbians. Ellis often supported those who needed books, food, or assistance with college tuition.
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Ruth Ellis (activist)
Ruth Charlotte Ellis (July 23, 1899 – October 5, 2000) was an African-American LGBT rights activist and the one of the oldest surviving open lesbians at the age of 101. Her life is celebrated in Yvonne Welbon's documentary film Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100.
Ellis was born in Springfield, Illinois, on July 23, 1899. She was the youngest of four children and the only girl. Ellis' mother, Carrie Farro Ellis, died when she was a teen, while her father, Charles Ellis Sr., was the first African-American mail carrier in Illinois. Ellis Sr.'s appointment was controversial and he was called a racial slur in a Springfield newspaper following his appointment. Along with the racism her father faced, Ruth Ellis was exposed to much racism and racial violence in her upbringing. As a young child, Ellis witnessed Springfield race riot of 1908, during which her father defended their home with a sword from their front porch.
Ellis became open about her identity as a lesbian around 1915, but claims to never have had to come out, as her family was accepting of her orientation. She graduated from Springfield High School in 1919, at a time when fewer than seven percent of African Americans graduated from secondary school. In the 1920s, she met the only woman she ever lived with, Ceciline "Babe" Franklin.
Ellis worked for a printing company in the 1920s. She learned printing and typesetting while working at Black-owned print shop I.E. Foster & Co.
Ellis and Franklin moved to Detroit together in 1937. Like many other African Americans in the Great Migration, they sought better employment opportunities in the city. Like many other African American women, Ellis found work in the domestic sphere: she babysat a young boy in Highland Park, for $7 a week.
She then got a printing position with Waterfield and Heath, where she worked until opening her own press out of the West Side home she shared with Franklin. Their printing business, the Ellis & Franklin Printing Co., was the first woman-owned printing shop in the state of Michigan.
Her hobbies included dance, bowling, painting, piano, and photography.
Ellis lived with Babe Franklin mostly in the period prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the national Gay liberation movement, during which black queer people in Detroit were often excluded from white queer spaces. Ellis and Franklin's house was known in the African-American community as the "gay spot," a central location for gay and lesbian parties, particularly as a refuge for African-American gays and lesbians. Ellis often supported those who needed books, food, or assistance with college tuition.