Ruth Dreyfous, 1901-1998

Born into a prominent and civically minded family, Ruth Dreyfous dedicated her life to community well-being, especially in the field of education. After obtaining a master’s in child development at Columbia in the 1920s, she worked in child assessment and reading at her own alma mater, Isidore Newman School. When she retired, she volunteered with others in the League of Women Voters, keeping newly integrated Plaquemines Parish schools open in the 1960s. During that decade, she worked under the anti-poverty program, Total Community Action, setting up crisis classrooms for students of Laurel and Jackson Elementary schools in the Irish Channel. She also worked with the Urban League to set up preschool rooms in designated low-income neighborhood schools.

For more information, visit Dreyfous Family History website.