User:SnowRed1478/Ruth E. Thomas

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Ruth Elma Thomas was born on November 19, 1926 and died on November 23, 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-11-24 |title=Remembering Ruth Thomas: A Stern but Beloved Principal |url=https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/11/24/remembering-ruth-thomas-a-stern-but-beloved-principal/ |access-date=2026-03-30 |website=St. Thomas Source |language=en-US}}</ref> She was a well-renowned and widely respected educator and community leader in [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands]] and spent most of her life an educator in various positions and has acquired many honors and accomplishments.

== Biography ==
Ruth E. Thomas was a product of Kogens Quarter also known as the Upstreet neighborhood, a district of [[Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moolenar |first=Ruth M. |title=Legacies of Upstreet: the transformation of a Virgin Islands Neighborhood |publisher=We From Upstreet Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=0-974 9430-0-2 |location=St. Thomas U.S Virgin Islands}}</ref> After graduating from Charlotte Amalie High School, she attended the City College of New York and later transferred to Fisk University where she graduated with a B.A in English in 1949.<ref name=":0" /> She earned her M.S in linguistics from the University of Michigan at Ann Harbor in 1957.<ref name=":0" /> She earned her Education Specialist degree in secondary school administration in 1970 from the University of Michigan at Ann Harbor.<ref name=":0" />

Thomas began teaching at [[Charlotte Amalie High School]] in 1949.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2020-12-03 |title=UVI Mourns the Loss of Ruth E. Thomas |url=https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/12/03/uvi-mourns-the-loss-of-ruth-e-thomas/ |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=St. Thomas Source |language=en-US}}</ref> As an English teacher and later principal of Charlotte Amalie High School, she taught many of the well-known and outstanding United States Virgin Islands community leaders including Dr. Orville Kean, the 3rd president of the [[University of the Virgin Islands]], Jeanette Smith-Barry, a former principal of Charlotte Amalie High School, and Gilbert Sprauve, a University of the Virgin Islands professor of linguistics.<ref name=":0" /> She was a part-time faculty member of the University of the Virgin Islands and served as a member of its Board of Trustees.<ref name=":1" />

She retired as principal of Charlotte Amalie High School in 1982.<ref name=":0" /> In total, Thomas served 33 years at Charlotte Amalie High School as a teacher and principal.<ref name=":1" />

== Accomplishments and Honors ==
After retiring from her formal education career, Thomas was still involved in the advancement and improvement of the United States Virgin Islands community. She was a member of the Virgin Islands Partners for Health and the League of Women Voters. She was a board member of the Girl Scouts and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.<ref name=":1" /> Thomas also helped to begin the Thomas-Skelton-Stout group, a collaboration of her extended families, that awards yearly scholarships.<ref name=":0" />

The Virgin Islands Board of Education created a special legislative grant, 190z. Ruth E. Thomas Scholarship Fund for Teacher Education, that provides financial support to United States Virgin Islands educators pursing graduate studies in elementary or secondary education.<ref>{{Cite web |title=190z. Ruth E. Thomas Scholarship Fund for Teacher Education |url=https://myviboe.com/financialaid__grant/190z-ruth-e-thomas-scholarship-fund-for-teacher-education/ |access-date=2026-03-30 |website=VIBOE |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2017, Thomas received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of the Virgin Islands.<ref name=":1" />

Congresswoman [[Stacey Plaskett]] released a press statement on November 24, 2020, offering her condolences to the family of Ruth E. Thomas. Plaskett recognized her service to the Virgin Islands community as an educator and public figure.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-24 |title=CONGRESSWOMAN PLASKETT OFFERS HER CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF DR. RUTH E. THOMAS |url=https://plaskett.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3717 |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett |language=en}}</ref> Attendees of her viewing at the Charlotte Amalie High School auditorium in her name, the Ruth E. Thomas Auditorium, were asked to give donations to the Ruth E. Thomas scholarship in lieu of flowers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-12 |title=Ruth E. Thomas |url=https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/obituaries/ruth-e-thomas/article_b28cd18c-af3e-5130-89d0-110409453c76.html |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=The Virgin Islands Daily News |language=en}}</ref> The auditorium was named after her in 1998 by the Virgin Islands Legislation. <ref name=":1" />

== References ==
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