Ruby Duncan
Ruby Duncan (born June 7, 1932) is an American advocate for low-income families and welfare rights in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was the co-founder of the organization Operation Life and president of the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization.[2] In the 1970s Duncan and 'Westside mother'[3] activists "organised a protest that shut down Caesars Palace in Las Vegas".[4] She also made "Nevada history" by bringing the federal food stamp program to the state.[5] Early life: 1932–1953Ruby Phillips Duncan came from a family of sharecroppers.[6] Both her parents had died by the time she turned four, and from that point on she lived with relatives in Tallulah, Louisiana. The majority of her early life was spent working in cotton fields from May through October and attending a black school from November through April. She was a drug store clerk for two years.[7] She left Louisiana for Las Vegas in 1953.[8] First years in Las VegasIn Las Vegas Duncan worked as a house maid and a hotel maid. She was fired from the second job in 1964 for organizing other maids to protest against working conditions and low wages.[9] After being fired, the only source of income she had to support herself and her young children was the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) grant she received from the state welfare system.[10] She was eventually able to get a job working in a hotel pantry, however while at work she slipped and fell, injuring her back and rendering her unable to work. This exposed her to the inadequate systems meant to support struggling families.[11] She contacted the State Welfare Department asking for job training so that she could get hired in a job that did not require physical labor, but the department was reluctant. In 1967 Congress passed new amendments requiring all women on Aid to Families with Dependent Children to enroll in job training programs. The only program available to welfare mothers on the Westside of Las Vegas, where Duncan lived, was a sewing class that met five days a week eight hours a day and paid $25 a week. This is where Duncan became radicalized and mobilized with other welfare mothers who eventually banded together to form what became Clark County Welfare Rights.[12] Nevada Welfare Rights OrganizationDuncan, along with other black welfare mothers, led the movement for welfare rights in Las Vegas. She created the Nevada Welfare Rights Organization[13] which fought successfully to bring the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Federal Food Stamps Program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children to Nevada.[14] George Wiley trained members of the group, and many young attorneys volunteered legal advice. The group, led by Duncan, Mary Wesley, Alversa Beals, Emma Stampley, and Essie Henderson, organized protests, eat-ins, marches, speeches, and political events to advocate for those receiving welfare and for women's rights. [15] Activism and the StripIn 1971 the state of Nevada cut 75% of welfare given to women with children.[16] Duncan organized with other welfare mothers, especially those from Clark County Welfare Rights and the Nevada Welfare Rights Organization, initially holding small demonstrations. They organized two large-scale marches of welfare mothers and their children down the Las Vegas Strip.[17] At the first in March 1971,[18] upwards of 6000 people marched down the Las Vegas Strip, shutting down revenues to the casinos, including Caesars Palace, for several hours. Celebrities and well known activists including Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Ralph Abernathy, Cesar Chavez, Dr. Benjamin Spock, and Dave Dellinger attended, protecting the protestors from police and bystander abuse.[12] A week later, another march took place. This time they sat across six lanes of traffic, meaning women and children were arrested.[19] The marches gained attention from local and national news. Duncan and the other welfare mothers of the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization subsequently organized eat-ins, where dozens of welfare mothers and their children would order food from casino restaurants and then leave, telling the casinos to bill the state government. Two weeks after the initial eat-in, a federal judge mandated that all of the mothers that had been dropped from welfare be re-added immediately.[20][21] Duncan also served as a Democratic Delegate for Nevada at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.[22] Operation Life (1972-1992)Duncan co-founded Operation Life in 1972[23] and served as the director for nearly two decades. The non-profit organization worked towards improving the lives of families and promoted welfare reform in West Las Vegas.[24] Operation Life initiated community programs including drug and alcohol abuse prevention, daycare centers, medical clinics, lunch programs and employment programs.[25] Operation Life also contributed "Ruby Duncan Manor" a housing building for 30 elderly and disabled individuals. Duncan stepped down as director in 1990 and the organization ended in 1992.[22] RecognitionShe received the following awards and honors:
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