Ruby McCollum facts for kids
Ruby McCollum (born Ruby Jackson, August 31, 1909 – May 23, 1992) was an African-American woman from Live Oak, Florida. She became well-known after being arrested and found guilty in 1952 for the death of Dr. C. Leroy Adams, a respected white doctor. She said he was the father of her youngest child. Her case gained a lot of attention across the United States and even in other countries. She was not allowed to speak publicly about her case. Later, her conviction was overturned by the State Supreme Court.
Before a second trial could happen, doctors examined McCollum and found she was not well enough to go to court. She was then sent to a state mental hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida. In 1974, her lawyer, Frank Cannon, helped her get released under a law called the Baker Act. This law allows people to leave mental health facilities if they are not a danger to themselves or others.
Early Life and Education
Ruby Jackson was born in 1909 in Zuber, Florida. Her parents were Gertrude and William Jackson. She was the second of six children and their first daughter. Ruby went to local schools that were separated by race. Her parents noticed she was very smart, so they sent her to a private school called Fessenden Academy. There, she became very good at bookkeeping, which is like managing money records.
Family Life
In 1931, Ruby Jackson married Sam McCollum. They decided to move to Nyack, New York. This move was part of a big movement called the Great Migration, when many Black families left the Southern states in the early 1900s. Ruby and Sam had three children together: Sam Jr., Sonja, and Kay. Ruby later said that her fourth and youngest child, Loretta, was Dr. C. Leroy Adams' child.
Later Years and Passing
In 1974, Frank Cannon, who was Ruby McCollum's main lawyer during her trial in 1952, visited her at the mental hospital. He helped her get released without asking for any payment. He used the Baker Act, which allowed patients who were not considered dangerous to go home to their families. Ruby had been in the hospital because she was found unable to stand trial.
After her release, Ruby McCollum lived in a special care home in Silver Springs, Florida. Her care was paid for by money from a trust set up by author William Bradford Huie. He had paid her $40,000 for the movie rights to his book about her case, called Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwannee Jail.
Ruby was finally able to see her children again. Her son, Sam Jr., had faced legal issues in 1975 related to gambling. He had been living in the family home. The FBI took a large sum of money from him, but later returned most of it after taxes were paid. Ruby's daughters, Sonja and Kay, both got married and lived in Ocala, Florida. Sadly, Kay (McCollum) Hope died in a car accident in 1978, and Sonja (McCollum) Wood passed away from a heart attack in 1979.
In November 1980, a reporter named Al Lee from the Ocala Star Banner interviewed Ruby McCollum at the care home. Lee wrote that Ruby did not remember the difficult events she had gone through. Psychiatrists thought she might have had something called Ganser syndrome, which is when a person's mind blocks out painful memories. In those years, the State Mental Hospital in Chattahoochee was investigated several times for how patients were treated, including using too much medication and giving electroshock therapy, which can affect memory.
Ruby McCollum passed away on May 23, 1992, at the age of 82, due to a stroke. Her brother, Matt Jackson, had died less than a year before. Her family arranged for her to be buried next to him and his wife in the cemetery behind Hopewell Baptist Church in Live Oak. Her name was mistakenly spelled "Ruby McCollumn" on her death certificate.
