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.

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)

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.