Ruth L. Bennett (June 21, 1866 – February 24, 1947) was an American social reformer,

women's club The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a par ...

founder and the first president of the

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

branch of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

(NAACP). She founded the Ruth L. Bennett Improvement Club, the Ruth L. Bennett Community House for Colored Women and Girls and the Wilson Nursery to help migrant black women from the southern United States who moved to Chester as part of the Great Migration. She served as president of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Negro Women's Clubs. The Ruth L. Bennett House, the Ruth L. Bennett Homes

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

development and the Ruth Bennett Community Farm in Chester are named in her honor.

Early life

Bennett was born in Alabama on June 21, 1866 and moved to Chester, Pennsylvania in 1914 with her husband, Reverend R.J. Bennett. The Reverend preached at

Calvary Baptist Church Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

in the West end of Chester.

Career

During the Great Migration, thousands of black southerners migrated to Chester, Pennsylvania in search of jobs with good wages and to escape racial segregation and discrimination in the South. Many of these migrants were young women, separated from their families, with no work or place to stay. Bennett supported these women with the creation of the Ruth L. Bennett Improvement Club which provided clothing and religious instructions as well as classes on cooking, dressmaking and hygiene. In 1910, Bennett became the first president of the Chester branch of the NAACP. The first meeting of the organization was held at the Ruth L. Bennett Home for Women. In 1915, Bennett became the president of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Negro Women's Clubs which had branches in Philadelphia, Coatesville, West Chester and other parts of the states. In 1918, the club opened the Ruth Bennett Community House for Colored Women and Girls for the shelter and care of migrant women. In 1925, Bennett opened the Wilson Nursery which provided housing for orphans. By 1940, the Bennett House had provided shelter for over 2,000 black women and girls in need.

Death and legacy

Bennet died on February 24, 1947. The Ruth L. Bennett House and the 260 unit Ruth L. Bennett Homes public housing development, built in 1952, were named in her honor. The Ruth Bennett Community Farm is an educational farm and environmental center that operates on 2 acres at the Ruth L. Bennett Homes in Chester.

Gallery

File:Ruth L. Bennett House.jpg, Ruth L. Bennett House Wilson Nursery.jpg, Wilson Nursery next to the Ruth L. Bennett House Sign for Ruth L. Bennett Homes.jpg, Sign for the Ruth L. Bennett Homes public housing development File:Ruth L. Bennett Community Farm.jpg, Ruth L. Bennett Community Farm

References

External links

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Video - Finding Home: The Ruth L. Bennett Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, L. Ruth 1866 births 1947 deaths 19th-century African-American women African-American activists 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators Burials at Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) Clubwomen NAACP activists People from Alabama People from Chester, Pennsylvania Women civil rights activists