Ruth Charlotte Ellis (July 23, 1899 – October 5, 2000) was an African-American woman who became widely known as the oldest surviving open lesbian, and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

at the age of 101, her life being celebrated in Yvonne Welbon's documentary film ''Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100''.

Early life

Ellis was born in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest ...

, on July 23, 1899. She was the youngest of four children in the family and the only daughter. Her parents were born in the last years of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. 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 (originally born enslaved). Ellis came out as a lesbian around 1915 (with help from a psychology textbook), but claims to never have had to come out as her family was rather accepting. She graduated from Springfield High School in 1919, at a time when fewer than seven percent of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

s graduated from secondary school. In the 1920s, she met the only woman she ever lived with, Ceciline "Babe" Franklin. They moved together to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, in 1937.

Career

Ellis spent her days working for a printing company in Springfield but moved elsewhere for higher pay. Encouraged by this promise, of better wages, Ellis moved to Detroit in 1937. There she watched over a young boy in Highland Park for only $7.00 a week, today that is worth about $125.62. However, she soon put the knowledge she had of the printing press, which she had picked up in Springfield, to work and secure a position with Waterfield and Heath, where she worked until opening her own press out of the West Side home she shared with Babe. Her printing business, the Ellis & Franklin Printing Co., was the first woman-owned printing shop in the state of Michigan.

Personal life

Her hobbies included

dancing Dance is a performing art art form, form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolism (arts), symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its chor ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thoug ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, playing

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, and

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

. Ellis and Franklin's house was also known in the African American community as the "gay spot". It was a central location for gay and lesbian parties, and also served as a refuge for African American gays and lesbians. She would continue to support those who needed books, food, or assistance with college tuition. Throughout her life, Ellis was an advocate of the rights of gays and lesbians, and of African Americans. Soon after her 70th birthday, due to her fame within the community, Ellis would become a staple at the " Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival". On her 100th birthday, she led and was sung

Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 '' Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognised song in the English language, followed by "F ...

by the San Francisco’s Dyke March of 1999. Although Ellis and Franklin eventually separated, they were together for more than 30 years. Franklin died in 1973 from a heart attack on her way to work.

Death

Ellis was hospitalized for two weeks with heart problems but wanted to spend her last days at home. Ellis died in her sleep in the early morning hours of October 5, 2000. Her ashes were spread in the following Womyn's festival and into the Atlantic Ocean off of Ghana.

Ruth Ellis Center

The

Ruth Ellis Center The Ruth Ellis Center is a Detroit area social services agency that serves the needs of runaway, homeless and at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) youth. Among their services are a drop-in center, Street Outreach Program, fo ...

honors the life and work of Ruth Ellis and is one of only four agencies in the United States dedicated to homeless

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

youth and young adults. Among their services are a drop-in center, supportive housing programs, and an integrated Health and Wellness Center that provides medical and mental health care.

Tributes and accomplishments

Her age did not slow her accomplishments, as her 100th birthday drew near, Ellis was being recognized in many major LGBT publications across the country, right as her documentary-like movie was coming out, "Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100." The film won several top honors at different major film festivals. In 2009, she was inducted into the Michigan Hall of Fame. In 2013, she was inducted into the

Legacy Walk The Legacy Walk is an outdoor public display on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, which celebrates LGBT contributions to world history and culture. According to its website, it is "the world's only outdoor museum walk and y ...

, an outdoor public display which celebrates

history and people. Ellis was also the oldest contributor to ''Piece of My Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology''. She was interviewed by poet and activist

Terri L. Jewell Terri Lynn Jewell (October 4, 1954 – November 26, 1995) was an American author, poet and Black lesbian activist. She was the editor of ''The Black Woman’s Gumbo Ya-Ya'', which received the New York City Library Young Persons Reading Award in ...

about 1989/1990.

References

External links

Soul Talk Radio audio interviewRuth Ellis @ Find a GraveLGBTQ Nation BioLegacy Project ProfileSangamon County (Illinois) Historical Society Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Ruth 1899 births 2000 deaths People from Springfield, Illinois LGBT people from Illinois LGBT people from Michigan Activists from Illinois Activists from Detroit American centenarians American lesbians Lesbian feminists LGBT Christians LGBT African Americans American LGBT rights activists African-American centenarians Women centenarians Women civil rights activists 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people African-American activists