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Ruth Tappe Scruggs

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Ruth Tappe Scruggs
A Black woman with light skin, wearing a strand of pearls and a dark print dress with a scooped neckline
Ruth Tappe Scruggs, from a 1927 issue of The Crisis
Born
Ruth Eliza Tappe

August 4, 1893
Washington, D.C., United States
DiedJuly 2, 1980(1980-07-02) (aged 86)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Known forNational president of Zeta Phi Beta (1926–1930)

Ruth Eliza Tappe Scruggs (August 4, 1893 – July 2, 1980) was an American clubwoman. She was the sixth national president (Grand Basileus) of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, in office from 1926 to 1930.

Early life and education

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Ruth E. Tappe was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of James Henry Tappe and Mary Susan Monroe Tappe. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from Howard University in 1919.[1]

Career

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Tappe worked at the Government Printing Office in Washington as a young woman.[2] Scruggs was the sixth national president of Zeta Phi Beta, serving in that leadership role from 1926 to 1930.[3][4] During her tenure, the sorority joined the National Pan-Hellenic Conference, and its official national magazine, The Archon, began publication.[5]

Besides Zeta Phi Beta, Scruggs was active in church work.[6] In 1950, she helped found the Niagara-Buffalo chapter of The Links, another Black women's service organization.[7]

Personal life

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Ruth Tappe married physician and community leader Ivorite Lorimer Scruggs in 1920. They moved to Buffalo, New York in 1921, where they were socially prominent,[8][9] and owned an apartment building.[10] Her husband died in 1974,[11] and she died in 1980, in her late eighties, in Detroit, Michigan.

References

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  1. ^ University, Howard (1919). Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Howard University, District of Columbia. Judd & Detweiler. p. 259.
  2. ^ "Washington Letter". The New York Age. March 30, 1918. p. 2. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Along the Color Line". The Crisis: 233. September 1927.
  4. ^ Shackleford, W. H. (January 5, 1930). "Happenings Among Colored People: The Tenth Annual Boule". The Tennessean. p. 8. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Greetings from Grand Val". The Archon Magazine: 3. Summer 2021 – via Issuu.
  6. ^ "Community Day Series of Coffee Hours Launched". The Buffalo News. July 30, 1964. p. 27. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Charity to Benefit". The Buffalo News. April 22, 1957. p. 11. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Holloman-Jenkins Nuptials Take Place in Summer Home of Dr. and Mrs. Scruggs". The Pittsburgh Courier. August 25, 1945. p. 10. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Picnic Saturday". The Buffalo News. August 3, 1961. p. 6. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Williams, Lillian Serece (July 22, 2000). Strangers in the Land of Paradise: Creation of an African American Community in Buffalo, New York, 1900-1940. Indiana University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-253-21408-9.
  11. ^ "Dr. Ivorite L. Scruggs Dies; Leader in Black Community". The Buffalo News. April 8, 1974. p. 16. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.