Dr.RUTH BRETT QUARLES
THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO SIT ON THE COMMISSION ON EDUCATION OF WOMEN.
Professor Emeritus of Counseling and Education at Morgan State University
She served on the national board of directors of the YWCA of America and the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors (NAWDAC).
In 1982, NAWDAC sponsored the Ruth Brett Symposium at the University of Maryland to celebrate her long career and dedication to service.Ruth has been listed in Who’s Who Among American Women, Who’s Who Among Black Americans and Who’s Who Among American College and University Administrators.
Ruth was born on November 23, 1914 in Winton, North Carolina. She was the second of seven children. Her mother was a homemaker and her father, an independent farmer. She was valedictorian of her high school class. After High School she enrolled and attended Shaw University, where she earned her A.B. in 1935 and graduated the top of her class. She earned her M.A. from the Hartford Seminary Foundation the following year, and later returned to school, earning an Eddy award from Columbia University in 1945.
Her professional career began in 1936 as assistant to the dean of women at Spelman College. In 1938.
She became the dean of women at Dillard University, and in 1942, the dean of students at Bennett College. In 1944, she took a position as the associate personnel director at Tuskegee Institute.
In 1949, she became a volunteer with the American Friends Service Committee at the University of Munich, where she worked with displaced German refugees in the aftermath of World War II. Quarles was named the dean of students at Fisk University in 1951, and in 1956, she went to Morgan State University, where she remained until her retirement in 1980. Prior to her death she gave an interview to History Makers. Ruth Quarles passed away on January 16, 2007 of complications after hip surgery at Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham. She had lived in Collington Episcopal Lifecare Community in Mitchellville, MD since 1988. Survivors include step-daugher, Roberta Knowles of St. Croix, Virgin Islands and her son, James Knowles, daughter Pamela Quarles of Falls Church, VA and her two sons, Jonathan and Kristopher Pourzal; three sisters, numerous nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service were be held on January 31, 11 a.m. at the Collington Interfaith Chapel, Mitchellville, MD
Picture Libray of Congress History Makers Bio