Ruby Whittlesey (1884 - 1980)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Ruby's lifetime.

In 1884, in the year that Ruby Whittlesey was born, on August 5th, the cornerstone for the base of the Statue of Liberty - a gift from the people of France - was laid. 120,000 people - most donations were $1 - donated to the completion of the base. An 1883 poem by Emma Lazarus was also written to raise funds. That poem was included in the base of the statue and is well known today. The most famous phrase: "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

In 1915, at the age of 31 years old, Ruby was alive when the Superior Court in Fulton County Georgia accepted the charter for the establishment of the new Ku Klux Klan, succeeding the Klan that flourished in the South in the late 1800's. This iteration of the Klan adopted white clothing and used many of the code words from the first Klan, adding cross burnings and mass marches in an attempt to intimidate others.

In 1923, Ruby was 39 years old when the Teapot Dome scandal became the subject of an investigation by Senator Walsh and severely damaged the reputation of the Harding administration. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall was convicted of accepting bribes from oil companies and became the first Cabinet member to go to prison. At the time, the Teapot Dome scandal was seen as "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics".

In 1943, by the time she was 59 years old, on March 31st, the Broadway musical Oklahoma! opened. Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (the first of their string of successful collaborations), audiences loved it. The musical ran for 2,212 performances originally and was made into a movie in 1954.

In 1980, in the year of Ruby Whittlesey's passing, on December 8th, ex-Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of his home - the Dakota - in New York City. Chapman was found guilty of murder and still remains in jail.