Ruth Clement Bond

Ruth Clement Bond (May 22, 1904 – October 24, 2005) was an African-American educator, civic leader and artist. As an educator, Bond taught at universities in Haiti, Liberia and Malawi. She headed the African-American Women's Association and in the course of her career advocated for women and children in the US, Afghanistan, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Tunisia. As an artist, Ruth is notable for elevating the utilitarian quilt into an avant-garde work of social commentary. Three such quilts remain from this creative period in the 1930s. Those quilts were exhibited at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Michigan State University Museum.

Early life and family

Ruth Elizabeth Clement was born in Louisville, Kentucky on May 22, 1904, to George Clinton Clement, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and Emma Clarissa Williams Clement. She was the fourth of seven children. Altogether, Ruth and the group of women quilters constructed six quilts, known as the "T.V.A. quilts," of which three are remaining; they have been exhibited at the Museum of Arts and Design and the Michigan State University Museum, among others.

Later life

Following Max's retirement in 1966, the Bonds returned to the United States and took up residence in Washington, D.C., where they both became involved with community issues. During the 1960s, Ruth served as the president of the African-American Women's Association. In 1978, she worked with a fact-finding mission led by the National Council of Negro Women to study the role of women in Senegal, Togo, and the Ivory Coast. Both the Bonds were involved with the Africa-America Institute, founded by Max's brother Horace Mann Bond. In D.C., Ruth was on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Washington, the YMCA, and the Red Cross, and was an active member of the Foreign Service Women's Association.

Ruth died on 24 October 2005, at the age of 101.