Interview with Ruth W. Hayre, June 7, 1984

Interview Summary

Ruth Wright Hayre (1910-1998), was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Philadelphia. She was the daughter and granddaughter of two of Philadelphia?s most prominent businessmen and civic leaders in the early 1900s. In her 1984 interview, Hayre talks about the lives of her father, Richard Robert Wright, Jr. (1878-1967), who moved to Philadelphia in his late twenties to continue his education, and her grandfather, Richard Robert Wright, Sr. (1853-1947), a former college president who came to Philadelphia in 1921 to start the Citizens and Southern Bank with his son, R.R. Wright, Jr. Like her father and grandfather, Hayre was an educational pioneer, as Philadelphia?s first African-American high school teacher and principal, and the first female head of the Philadelphia School Board.

Interview Keyword

African American families African Americans--Religion African Americans--Crimes against Racism African American churches African American neighborhoods African Americans--Newspapers

Interview LC Subject

African Americans--Southern States United States--Race relations African Americans--Conduct of life African Americans--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia African Americans--Employment African Americans--Housing African Americans--Education African Americans--Economic conditions African Americans--Segregation African Americans--Social conditions Discrimination in housing Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions Race discrimination African American business enterprises--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia Discrimination in education

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.