On May 11, 2021, the fifth episode of our ExhiBits series welcomed teacher, author, politician, and activist Ruth Scott. Dr. Scott’s papers were featured in the exhibition, We Want More and We Will Have It: Women Running Rochester in 2020. She was joined by Autumn Haag, the Assistant Director of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation to talk about her work and her papers. The conversation started with a discussion about her papers and how they came to be collected and donated. Dr. Scott credited her husband for keeping them, and her parents, who were an inspiration to her not only in terms of legacy, but also in shaping what they and she “would think were good things to do”. Both her husband and her parents were mentioned throughout the talk as inspiring her work.
This wide-ranging conversation covered local politician Midge Costanza who went on to work with President Jimmy Carter, radio announcer and advocate Howard Coles, how to dress for success, the Urban League, inspiring young politicians and activists, and Dr. Scott’s experiences when she first moved to Rochester. Her advice for younger politicians and community organizers and activists included knowing what the job they are going after really entails and thinking deliberately about what kind of politician or CEO they want to be.
Despite it only being 30 minutes long, a lot was packed into this conversation, which can be viewed online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKqD5gkOK8s. I encourage you to listen to the whole talk, which was incredibly rich.
To register for each free live event, visit https://forms.gle/g6QCKhxzy3AZp1tw8.
The events will be recorded and made accessible here just before the next live event in the series.
Past ExhiBits:
Upcoming ExhiBits:
June 8, 2021, 3:30-4:00 PM. “A Single Item Tells a Story: Creating a Stir with Suffrage Cookbooks,” with Autumn Haag.
