Ruby Gilbert (December 19, 1929 – February 28, 2010) was an American politician. Gilbert was born in

Childress, Texas Childress ( ) (established 1887; incorporated 1890) is a city in Childress County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,905 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Childress County. The city and county were named in honor of Georg ...

and was raised in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas. In 1954, Gilbert moved to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

and worked as a nurse's aide at Wesley Hospital in Wichita. Gilbert served in the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

from 1991 to 2004, from Wichita, and was the first African-American woman to be elected to the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

. Gilbert was appointed to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1991 to fill a vacancy and then was elected to the house in 1992. She was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Gilbert died from cancer.Kansas Memory-Ruby Gilbert
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Notes

1929 births 2010 deaths People from Childress, Texas Politicians from Dallas Politicians from Wichita, Kansas Women state legislators in Kansas African-American state legislators in Kansas Democratic Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians {{Kansas-politician-stub