17 Facts About Ruby Hurley

Ruby Hurley was an American civil rights activist.

Ruby Hurley was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and administrator for the NAACP, and was known as the "queen of civil rights".

Ruby Hurley worked briefly for the federal government and at the Industrial Bank of Washington.

Ruby Hurley married William L Hurley, a lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1942.

In 1939, Hurley was on a committee that was tasked with arranging for a performance from Marian Anderson, an African-American opera singer who had been barred from singing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Ruby Hurley moved to New York City and stayed in that role until 1950.

Ruby Hurley became Regional Secretary of the NAACP's newly formed Southeast Regional Office the following year.

In 1955, Hurley joined with civil rights activists Amzie Moore and Medgar Evers, who was Field Secretary at the NAACP's Mississippi office, in investigating the murders of minister George W Lee and 14-year-old Emmett Till.

Ruby Hurley later joined in a tour to bring nationwide attention to the tragedy.

In 1956, Ruby Hurley helped to prepare the case of Autherine Lucy to be allowed to attend the University of Alabama.

Ruby Hurley's efforts were met with open hostility and she faced constant danger.

Ruby Hurley's house was attacked and she received obscene telephone calls.

Ruby Hurley was forced to flee Alabama in the night on June 1,1956, after the state barred the NAACP from operating there.

Ruby Hurley moved to Atlanta where she opened a regional office four months later.

The headquarters became a focal point for civil rights organizers and Ruby Hurley worked alongside Vernon Jordan.

Ruby Hurley retired on March 31,1978, and served as president of United Methodist Women.

In 2009, Ruby Hurley was featured alongside Ella Baker on a 42-cent stamp.