Of all its youthful graduates, Pulaski County can boast of no other who has attained greater success in the realm of literature than Dr. Ruth Scarborough.
Dr. Scarborough is the daughter of Robert Lee and Georgia (Turner) Scarborough, and is a graduate of the Hawkinsville High School. She received her A.B. degree from Bessie Tift College, Forsyth, Georgia, and her M.A. degree from Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. During her years at Bessie Tift College she was an ardent student, exceedingly wise in those things which seemed hard to master. She was interested in psychology and sociology. She participated in the religious work of the Y. W. A., and possessed great athletic abilities, proved by her maneuvers in baseball, tennis, swimming, and golf. She was also a member of the International Relations Club. She taught in various high schools and colleges. In 1930 she was assistant professor of history at Bessie Tift.
In 1932 she received her Ph.D. degree from George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn., being the youngest woman ever to receive that degree at Peabody. At this institution she was a member of the honorary fraternity Kappa Delta Pi, which stands for scholarship, research, and professional standards. Her book, “The Opposition to Slavery in Georgia Prior to 1860,” is given high recognition by literary critics.
“It covers ground gone over before in a fragmentary way by various writers, but never before so thoroughly. One feels on closing the book that herein is gathered the testimony of many witnesses, correlated and unified into complete and comprehensive exposition of one of the most vital phases of. American life, of human life.”-The Atlanta Journal, June 18, 1933.
“The work covers a field heretofore untouched by the writers of Georgia history, except as to isolated items. It is a work well done, exhibits much painstaking research, and is a most readable volume. It is a valuable contribution to the history of our State.”-Warren Grice, Macon Telegraph, 1932.
She did postgraduate work at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., and Columbia University, New York City. Dr. Scarborough has traveled in Europe, as well as the United States, Canada, and South America, and has spent a portion of two winters in the West Indies. She has lectured before various organizations on “Conditions Existing in Russia Today.”
She has attended Laurels Fall Camp, Clayton, Georgia, where she won camp honors in several activities, and has also been a councilor at Sargent Camp, Peterboro, N. H.
Dr. Scarborough was professor of history at Arkansas State Teachers College, Conway, Ark., and at Fort Smith Junior College, Fort Smith, Ark.
In the summer of 1935 she attended the University of California, and also under the Elsie Education Tours she sponsored a group of students on a Western tour for educational purposes.
At present she is professor of history and social science at Alabama State Teachers College. She is a girl of upright character and is loyal to her friends. Good natured, cheerful; nothing, no matter how serious, can ruffle her even ways. This is her life motto: “Aught that is worth doing is worth doing well.”