Civil rights pioneer Ruth Anderson dies in Iowa

From Media Reports

WATERLOO, Iowa – Ruth Anderson, an Iowa native known as a pioneer in the local civil rights movement, has died at age 91.

Sanders Funeral Services says Anderson died Jan. 22 at her Waterloo home after a lengthy illness.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Anderson was a longtime community leader who taught social work at the University of Northern Iowa for 22 years. She won a legal battle during that time to be awarded tenure. It was considered a major victory for female professors at public universities in Iowa.

Anderson became the first African-American director of social services in Black Hawk County and the first African-American elected to the county’s Board of Supervisors. She was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1982.

Payne AME Church, with burial in Garden of Memories