Ruth Bluford Anderson, social worker and professor, was born to Roy and Joy Blocker Bluford on October 28, 1921 in Braden, Oklahoma. After her parents' divorce in 1933, Anderson's mother was forced to rely on public assistance. Anderson attributed her desire to become a public servant to this experience. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. in social work from Columbia University.
After her divorce from Everett McKinnis in 1959, Anderson moved to Waterloo, Iowa and worked as a social worker for the Blackhawk County Dept. of Public Welfare for eight years. In 1969 she became a professor of social work at the University of Northern Iowa. Anderson was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1988, she was elected to the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors, the first African-American woman to serve on a county board of.
supervisors in the state. In 1996 Anderson was inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame.
From the description of Papers of Ruth Bluford Anderson, 1977-1986. (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 233101246
