Ruby Chappelle Boyd
Ruby Chappelle Boyd | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1919 |
| Died | October 25, 2024 (aged 105) |
| Education | Atlanta University |
Ruby Chappelle Boyd (March 18, 1919 – October 25, 2024) was the first African-American librarian in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also worked to preserve the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Early life and work in libraries
[edit | edit source]Ruby Chappelle was born in Philadelphia on March 18, 1919.[1] Her parents, Bersie and Pearl Chappelle, had moved to Philadelphia from South Carolina during the Great Migration.[2] After growing up in Philadelphia, Boyd sought work as a librarian and applied to attend Drexel Institute, but was denied admittance due to her race.[1][3]
Boyd was a graduate of Wilberforce University and attended Atlanta University Library School, earning her Bachelor in Library Science and Service degree in 1943.[3] While she was attending school in Atlanta, Philadelphia elementary school principal John Henry Brodhead fought a battle against discrimination in the city's government, and in 1943 the Free Library of Philadelphia advertised to hire their first African American librarian.[1] Upon Boyd's return to Philadelphia she applied for the position and was appointed the city's first black librarian.[1] She later became the first black librarian in the School District of Philadelphia.[1]
In 1966, as president of the School Librarians Association of Philadelphia, she led the organization of the School Library Student Assistants Conference.[4]
Work for the A.M.E. Church
[edit | edit source]Boyd's maternal grandfather was an A.M.E. Church preacher and her mother served as superintendent of the Sunday school at Mother Bethel, the birthplace of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Boyd was a lifelong member of that church.[2][1] After her retirement from the Philadelphia school district, she dedicated her work to preserving the history of Mother Bethel, developing the Church's museum.[1]
In 1982, Boyd edited a book about the Mother Bethel Church titled On this rock : the mother of African Methodism.[5]
Personal life and death
[edit | edit source]Chappelle married James T. Boyd, a school principal, and had one daughter.[6][7] Chappelle Boyd still lived in Philadelphia as of 2018.[8] She turned 100 in March 2019, and was honoured by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in August 2024.[9] Boyd died on October 25, 2024, at the age of 105.[10]
References
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- 1919 births
- 2024 deaths
- American librarians
- American women centenarians
- American women librarians
- African-American librarians
- Atlanta University alumni
- 21st-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American women
- 21st-century African-American women
- People from Philadelphia