Mrs Ruffner
Book T Washington could only obtain and education if he worked. In his book Up From Slavery, he pays homage to Mrs Ruffner, wife to General Lewis Ruffner. Working for Mrs Ruffner and meeting her expectations proved to be the key factor to contributed to Booker’s later success.
Work ethic and drive are lessons we do not impart in great measure these days, but when you listen Booker T Washington Describe the influence Mrs Ruffner and the hard work he performed for her had, it was the critical factor for him.
For Washington, practical hands on training leading to skills would garner not only independence but gain respect among whites. His experiences with his own education became the basis for his becoming an advocate for education for the black Americans as the route to equality.
Mrs. Viola Ruffner, the wife of General Ruffner, was a “Yankee” woman from Vermont. Mrs. Ruffner had a reputation all through the vicinity for being very strict with her servants, and especially with the boys who tried to serve her. Few of them remained with her more than two or three weeks. They all left with the same excuse: she was too strict. I decided, however, that I would rather try Mrs. Ruffner’s house than remain in the coal-mine, and so my mother applied to her for the vacant position. I was hired at a salary of $5 per month.
6 Waves of Separation
My son found his way to a pretty interesting job this summer, his night gig has had him out on the Detroit River and Lake St Claire as first mate and bartender on a small cruise boat. 100 years ago his work would have been outlawed by Prohibition. His nighttime excursions have taken him on to many of the areas when rum runners smuggled alcohol from Canada into the United States.
Bootleggers, Blind Pigs and Rum Runners on the River
“Just as the church bells were chiming on Sunday morning last, three motor vehicles drove hurriedly down the London Road towards the St. Clair River. Two were touring cars – one acting as front guard and the other acting as rear guard. The object of their attention was a motor truck wherein, it was said, was transported a jolly little load of booze. The three motors drove down to the waterfront; the booze was removed from the truck into a waiting launch which disappeared at once, headed in the general direction of the U.S.”
The Violent Purples
Detroit Underground History: Prohibition and the Purples
The Purple Gang was Detroit’s most infamous organized crime group, ruling the city’s illicit underworld during the late 1920s and early 1930s. The gang consisted mostly of Jewish members whose parents migrated from Russia and Poland around the early 1900s. Led by the Bernstein brothers (Abe, Joseph, Raymond, and Isadore), most members grew up in the Hastings Street neighborhood (known as Paradise Valley) on the lower east side, and attended the Old Bishop School.
Michigan was dry before the rest of the nation.
Michigan was “dry” before the 18th Amendment. The Damon Act of 1916 prohibited the use of alcohol beginning in 1917. Prohibition across the US didn’t begin until 1920. Plenty of time to practice rumrunning.
Rich Roberts, Someone From My Past Owns A Speakeasy!
I had the pleasure of working with Rich Roberts on a project 20 years ago, we started this month back in 2004. He and his company joined me on a quest to digitize over the documents at my company, the CFO gave us the goal to get rid of half the paper on our shelves. They prepared a proposal that we presented to the CFO.
I couldn’t make the presentation personally, I had to call in as I was headed back home to pick my wife and take her to the hospital, as my son would be arriving that afternoon. But the CFO dropped a new goal on my that day during the call – “I want you to reduce all paper by 50%.” Rich and his team helped make that happen. It’s interesting that Rich comes back into the radar so close to my son’s birthday.
I had no clue that Rich and his family were tied to the history of Detroit in so many ways. He owns a Speakeasy that has been in his family since the 1960s, but his family history to Speakeasies and the Auto industry goes further back.