Posts Tagged ‘Ruth Neff’
Readers may decide “The Rest of the Story” of Ruff Neff may be hopeful
by Sue Hunter Weir In 1909, when she was 15 years old, Ruth Neff was arrested for indecent conduct. After that, things went straight down hill. She was sent to a reform school for a few months but her mother managed to persuade the court to let Ruth out on parole. According to her mother, Ruth had always been a difficult child. Ruth”'s parents separated shortly after she was born because, in the words of her mother, Ruth”'s father had become “more or less dissipated.” In order to support herself and her four children, Ruth”'s mother had to work. Ruth did poorly in school and often skipped class. One of her teachers described Ruth “as not quite normal mentally.” The same teacher admitted that they”'d promoted Ruth “to simply get her on in school.” Even so, Ruth never got beyond the fourth grade. (more…)
