Ruth Apilado
Born
Ruth Mosselle Mays

(1908-04-30)April 30, 1908
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died(2021-08-15)August 15, 2021
(aged 113 years, 107 days)
Federal Way, Washington, U.S.
EducationChicago State University
Occupations
  • Newspaper editor
  • novelist
  • anti-racism campaigner for African American civil rights
  • magazine founder
  • teacher
Known forFounder of America Intercultural Magazine
SpouseInosencio Apilado
Children1
RelativesLu Palmer (second cousin)

Ruth Moselle Apilado (née Mays; April 30, 1908 – August 15, 2021) was an American newspaper editor, novelist and supercentenarian who founded America's Intercultural Magazine (AIM). Born during the Jim Crow era, she was an African American anti-racism activist for civil and political rights.[1]

Early life

Apilado was born on April 30, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were Stewart and Clara (née Whetsel) Mays.[2] Her maternal grandmother had emigrated from Canada to Ohio, and was partly indigenous. Her paternal great-grandfather was a slave owner in Virginia.[3]

Apilado attended McKinley High School, which closed in 1954.[3] She became a teacher in 1928, after graduating from Chicago Normal College (now Chicago State University).[4]

Newspaper publishing and novel

She began her journalistic career in 1942, when she briefly worked as an editor for the newly created Negro Youth Photo Scripts Magazine.[5] In 1945, she wrote a letter to the editor expressing her criticism of Richard Wright's memoir Black Boy, stating that it was an inaccurate depiction of the typical childhood of African-Americans.[6] In 1950, Apilado published a novel called The Joneses, which was about the hardships of a black family living in Chicago.[7]

Magazine founder

After retiring from teaching in 1973, Apilado founded America's Intercultural Magazine (AIM), a quarterly-published journal that set out to "bridge the gap between races, cultures, and religions."[8] Already in 1948, an initiative of creating such a journal (called Freedom Press) took place, when she requested the newspaper Berkeley Daily Gazette to assist her and her associates with marketing.[9] Her anti-racism stance was reflected in the editorials that she wrote; for example, she praised the activist and church leader Willa Saunders Jones in 1975.[10] On June 16, 1990, she participated as a panelist at a writers' conference in Elgin Community College in Illinois.[11]

Personal life

Apilado's husband was Filipino-American Inosencio Apilado. Their son, Myron Apilado, was the vice-president of minority affairs at University of Washington until the year 2000, as well as an editor of AIM.[12] On August 26, 2004, at age 96, she was interviewed by Larry Crowe of The History Makers, a project that produces oral history material by African-Americans.[2] Her second cousin was the reporter, newspaper journalist and radio host Lu Palmer.[3] She turned 113 years old in April 2021[13] and died on 15 August later that year.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Cygan: Citizens should voice resolutions for our new government". Sudbury Town Crier. January 16, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  2. 1 2 "The HistoryMakers video oral history with Ruth Apilado [electronic resource]". University of Pennsylvania. August 26, 2004. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Finding Aid to The HistoryMakers ® Video OralHistory with Ruth Apilado" (PDF). The History Makers. August 26, 2004. p. 5. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  4. ↑ "$10 gives start to library for negro children". Chicago Tribune. April 14, 1940. p. 13. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  5. ↑ "New Negro Youth Magazine Attracts Attention". The Weekly Review. May 29, 1942. p. 2. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  6. ↑ Fielder, Brigitte; Senchyne, Jonathan (May 14, 2019). Against a Sharp White Background: Infrastructures of African American Print. University of Wisconsin. pp. 87–90. ISBN 978-0299321505. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ "The Joneses Wins Award" (PDF). The Herald. August 3, 1950. p. 26. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  8. ↑ McNif, Marni (December 1, 2007). The Best of the Magazine Markets for Writers 2008. Writer's Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1889715391. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Personal Opinion". Berkeley Daily Gazette. April 17, 1948. p. 6. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Hallstoos, Brian James (December 2009). Windy city, holy land: Willa Saunders Jones and black sacred music and drama. University of Iowa. p. 14. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Writers' conference". Daily Herald. May 24, 1990. p. 113. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  12. ↑ "UW vice president for minority affairs to step down". University of Washington. February 14, 2000. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Ruth Apilado, the oldest living Chicagoan, remains a beacon of hope at age 113". Chicago Sun-Times. June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Ruth Moselle Apilado Obituary". 15 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
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