Ruth Janetta Temple facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ruth Janetta Temple
Portrait of Ruth Janetta Temple by Betsy Graves Reyneau
Born	1892 (1892) Natchez, Mississippi
Died	1984 (aged 91–92)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Loma Linda University Yale University
Occupation	Public Health
Spouse(s)	Otis Banks

Ruth Janetta Temple (1892–1984) was an American doctor. She was a leader in helping people get free or affordable healthcare. She also helped educate people in communities that didn't have many resources in Los Angeles, California.

Ruth and her husband, Otis Banks, started the Temple Health Institute. This was in East Los Angeles. It became a great example for other community health clinics across the country.

Ruth's Early Life and Family

Ruth Janetta Temple was born in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1892. Her parents were Amy Morton and Richard Jason Temple. She was the second of their seven children.

Ruth's parents thought education was very important. They also believed in treating all people with kindness and respect. Her father was a minister. He wanted his home to be a place where everyone felt welcome. People of all backgrounds, races, and religions came to their house. He even shared his old books written in Greek and Hebrew with scholars. He taught his children to love everyone, no matter their background. This idea helped Ruth work with all kinds of people later in life.

Ruth's mother also loved helping others. She often invited people who needed help into their home. She would give them food and clothes.

Moving to Los Angeles and Dreams of Medicine

In 1902, Ruth's father passed away. Two years later, Ruth and her family moved to Los Angeles. Her mother, a nurse, had to go back to work. Ruth, being older, helped take care of her younger siblings.

When Ruth was 13, something happened that changed her life. Her older brother, Walter, was playing with gunpowder. It blew up in his face. Ruth quickly ran to him. She cleaned his face and saw he was mostly okay. This moment made her realize she wanted to help people and take away their pain. From then on, she wanted to be a doctor.

Another event made her even more determined. One day, a neighbor's son, Ernie Fennell, fell into an oil ditch. He was pulled out, not breathing. Ruth quickly gave him CPR. After a few moments, he started breathing again. These experiences showed Ruth that she could truly help save lives.

Later, Ruth's family met Juliette Estelle Troy. She was an African American Seventh-day Adventist. The Troy and Temple families became important members of the Furlong Track Church. This was the first African American Seventh-day Adventist church in the West. It was started in 1908.

Ruth's Education and Training

In 1913, Ruth started college at the College of Medical Evangelists. Today, it is known as Loma Linda University. She was the first African American woman to graduate from this school.

Ruth's family could not pay for her college. But a group called the Los Angeles Forum stepped in. This was a group of black men who helped their community. They paid for Ruth's tuition. They supported her until she graduated in 1918 with a medical degree.

After college, she worked at the Los Angeles City Health Department in 1921. She focused on obstetrics (helping with childbirth) and gynecology (women's health). After working for over twenty years, Ruth was accepted into a special program. It was a master's program in Public Health at Yale University in 1941. The Los Angeles City Health Department even gave her a scholarship to help her study.

Ruth's Career and Community Work

After graduating from Loma Linda, Ruth started working to create health services. She wanted to help low-income communities in Los Angeles. She opened the first medical clinic in Southeast Los Angeles. This area had 250,000 people.

It was hard to get money for the clinic. So, Ruth and her husband, Otis Banks, used their own home. They turned their five-bedroom house into the Temple Health Institute. Ruth believed it was very important to teach both adults and children about health. She wanted people to be able to take care of themselves. She wanted them to have the knowledge to stay healthy.

Inside the institute, she created special programs. These included the Total Health Program and the Health Study Club. These programs taught patients and others in the community about health resources. They learned about services at her clinic and in the wider community. These health lessons were given in many places. They were taught in schools, parent-teacher groups, YWCAs, churches, and other community centers.

Her program became famous across the country. It used an easy-to-remember idea called ABC.

• A stood for "Acquiring basic health knowledge" (learning about health).
• B stood for "Bringing into practice what is learned" (using what you learned).
• C stood for "Communicating it to contacts" (sharing what you learned with others).

Even after she retired in 1962, Ruth kept working in public health. She was a member of many important groups. These included the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association.

Ruth's Legacy

Ruth Temple passed away in 1984. She was 91 years old. One year before she died, the East Los Angeles Health Center was renamed. It became the Dr. Ruth Temple Center. This was done to honor her amazing work.