Call Number:

BC046RH

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection

Extent:

25 linear feet (36 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ruth Wright Hayre Collection, BC 046 RH, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1840-1984 (inclusive) and 1911-1968 (bulk)

Creator:

Hayre, Ruth Wright, 1910-1999

Abstract:

Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre (October 26, 1910-January 30, 1999), born in Atlanta, GA, was a prominent African American figure who served her community in a variety of capacities, including as an archivist, philanthropist, administrator, and educator. Dr. Hayre, the daughter of Bishop Richard Robert Wright, Jr., held multiple higher-education degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1930; A.M., 1931; Ph.D., 1949; L.L.D., honorary, 1989). Inspired by her brief position as a teacher at West Philadelphia High School for Girls, Hayre decided to help bring about educational advancement among African Americans, who faced considerable discrimination and poverty. She taught at several institutions, including, beginning in 1930, Arkansas State College for Negroes, a.k.a. Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College, where she met Talmadge Hayre, another instructor; Ruth Wright and Talmadge Hayre were married in 1937. Dr. Hayre also served as briefly as the principal of Arkansas State College before becoming "Philadelphia's first African American senior high school teacher" in 1946. Hayre became vice principal of William Penn (girls') High School in 1953 and principal in 1955, both "firsts" for an African American in Philadelphia. In 1963, Hayre became the first African American public-school superintendent; she retired in 1976, but accepted an appointment to the Philadelphia Board of Education nine years later. In addition, Hayre founded the Tell Them We are Rising Fund, a philanthropic foundation, at Temple University in 1988.

Richard Robert Wright, Jr. (April 16, 1878-December 12, 1967), 57th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. Born in Cuthbert, GA, Wright had his conversion experience at age 14 in 1892 and joined Bethel A.M.E. Church. Wright obtained his B.A. from Georgia State College in Savannah in 1898, his B.D. from the University of Chicago in 1901, his A.M. from the University of Chicago in 1904, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911. In addition, Wright obtained his exhorter's license in 1998, his preaching license in 1899, his diaconal ordination in 1900; his first ecclesiastical position was assistant pastor at the Institutional Church of Chicago from 1900-01. In 1909, Wright married Charlotte Crogman, with whom he would have three children, including Ruth Wright Hayre. Wright served as editor of the Christian Recorder from 1909 to 1936; he was also the co-founder of the Citizen and Southern Banking Company (1920), as well as the Citizen and Southern Building and Loan Association and the Citizen Southern Realty Company (both founded in 1922). After serving as president of Wilberforce University in Ohio from 1932-36, Wright was elected bishop in 1936, the first Ph.D. elected an A.M.E. bishop. Serving in this capacity for the balance of his life, Wright founded the Richard R. Wright, Jr. School of Religion and other institutions and authored a number of sociological and religious books, as well as his autobiography. From 1960 he served as the A.M.E. Church's historiographer.

Notes: Noah D. Drezner, "Hayre, Ruth Wright," in Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, editors, African American National Biography, Volume 4 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 151 (quote), 152.

Comprising 25 linear feet, the collection spans the dates 1890, 1896-1984, but the bulk of the documents cover the time period 1920-1969. It consists of scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, minutes, pamphlets, newsletters, financial records, programs, reports, speeches, news clippings and ephemera. Additionally, there are five reels of 16 mm film, which document trips to the Caribbean and South Africa.

The documents are primarily on the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and its leaders like Bishop Richard Robert Wright. Also included is information on African American business and civic activities, educational, cultural, and social affairs, with particular emphasis on prominent members of the Black community in Philadelphia. Most of the photographs feature unidentified students and schools, others include Bishop Wright, relatives, and churches.