Cornwell, Ruby P. (Ruby Pendergrass), 1903-

Charleston (S.C.) educator and civic leader. Born in Clarendon County (S.C.), Ruby P. Cornwell attended Avery Normal Institute (Charleston, S.C.) and Talladega College in Alabama. Cornwell married Dr. A.T. Cornwell, a Charleston dentist. In 1956 she was elected as a delegate to the Charleston County Democratic convention. Ruby Cornwell was a friend of federal Judge J. Waties Waring (1880-1968), a champion of desegregation and black voting rights, and his wife Elizabeth (1895-1968).

In 1951, in the case of Briggs v. Elliott, Judge Waring filed a dissenting opinion to the ruling of a three judge court which upheld ("separate but equal") segregation in Clarendon County (S.C.) schools. Briggs v. Elliott became one of the cases decided in the Brown v. Board of Education case.