Ruth Ellis (1899 - 2000). Top left: Ruth in 1899 (University of Michigan Library). Top right: In 195
Ruth Ellis (1899 - 2000). Top left: Ruth in 1899 (University of Michigan Library). Top right: In 1951 (Wikipedia). Bottom: In 1993 (from Family: A Portrait of Gay and Lesbian America, by Nancy Andrews).Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, Ruth Ellis came out as a lesbian as a teen. From the 1940s until the early 70s Ruth Ellis and her partner of over thirty years, Babe, opened their Detroit home to black lesbians and gay men, providing a much needed private social space and refuge, known as “The Gay Spot.” In her later life Ruth was the subject of the documentary film Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100 (excerpt), and was for many years the unofficial grand dame of the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. An interview with Ruth may be found in the RedBone Press anthology Does Your Mama Know (2009; 1997).“There wasn’t very many places you could go when I came to Detroit, unless it’d be somebody’s home. In those days everything was hush hush. If you just knew somebody that had a home would accept you that is where you went. So after we bought our home, we opened it up to the gay people. That is where everyone wanted to come on the weekend. One would tell another, ‘I know where you can go. Go to Babe and Ruth’s.’ And then they would tell them where we lived and they would come.” — Ruth Ellis -- source link
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