Ruth DeMond Brooks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ruth DeMond Brooks
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Ruth DeMond, from a 1924 publication.
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Ruth Watkins DeMond
January 29, 1902 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
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| Died | May 15, 1987 Wheaton, Maryland, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Syracuse University University of Chicago |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Years active | 1920s-1950s |
| Parent(s) | Abraham Lincoln DeMond |
Ruth Watkins DeMond Brooks (born January 29, 1902 – died May 15, 1987) was an American teacher. She taught history for 28 years at Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C.. Her father and husband were important religious leaders.
Her Early Life
Ruth Watkins DeMond was born in New Orleans. She was the oldest of five children. Her parents were Abraham Lincoln DeMond and Lula Irene Watkins Patterson DeMond.
Her father was an Episcopalian minister. He studied in New York and at Howard University. Her mother was from Alabama. She studied music in Boston and taught at several Black colleges.
Ruth DeMond earned her first college degree from Syracuse University in 1924. Later, she earned a master's degree in history from the University of Chicago.
Her Teaching Career
Ruth Brooks started her teaching career in Baltimore. She taught at Douglass High School for five years.
Then, she moved to Washington, D.C. She taught history at Cardozo High School for 28 years. She received a permanent teaching position in 1932.
Ruth Brooks was still teaching at Cardozo High School when it became integrated in 1954. This meant students of all races could attend the school together. She retired from teaching in 1957.
Her Personal Life
In 1928, Ruth DeMond was a bridesmaid. She was in the wedding of her friend, Yolande Du Bois. Yolande was the daughter of famous writer W. E. B. Du Bois. Yolande married the poet Countee Cullen in New York.
In 1931, Ruth married Robert William Brooks. He was a pastor at Lincoln Temple Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. They married in her father's church in Nashville.
Ruth Brooks became a widow when her husband died in 1952. She passed away in 1987 at the age of 85. She died at a nursing home in Wheaton, Maryland.
Ruth's sister, Marguerite DeMond, married Harlem Renaissance journalist John P. Davis. In 1989, a library book borrowed by Ruth in 1926 was returned. Her nephew, journalist Michael DeMond Davis, returned it to the Nashville Public Library.
