Ruth Johns Ferguson
Ruth Elizabeth Booker Johns Ferguson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1902 Salisbury, Maryland, United States |
| Died | 1989 |
| Occupation(s) | Cosmetologist, businesswoman |
| Known for | Expert in cosmetology, Black entrepreneur in Philadelphia, president of Theta Nu Sigma |
Ruth Elizabeth Booker Johns Ferguson (1902–1989) was a notable American cosmetologist and businesswoman.
Originally from Salisbury, Maryland, where she was born to Joseph E. A. Johns, a Methodist minister, Ferguson's family later relocated to Philadelphia, settling in the Germantown neighborhood. She married Dr. Emanuel Ralph Ferguson (1899-1985) and emerged as a distinguished expert in cosmetology as well as a successful Black entrepreneur in Philadelphia during the mid-1900s.
Ferguson played an active role in the National Beauty Culturists' League (NBCL), an organization established in 1919 in Philadelphia that provided a leadership platform for Black women during the era of Jim Crow segregation. Additionally, she was a member of Theta Nu Sigma, a sorority founded in 1946 by Cordelia Green Johnson, then-president of the NBCL. This group consisted of women who had earned bachelor's degrees from the National Institute of Cosmetology, with Ferguson serving as president of Theta Nu Sigma for several years.
During the 1940s, Ferguson partnered with Naomi T. Fassett to launch a franchise of the Apex School of Beauty and Culture, among Philadelphia's earliest beauty institutions dedicated to Black women. Situated at 525 S. Broad Street, the school operated for three and a half decades, upholding the entrepreneurial tradition established by figures such as Madame C.J. Walker.
The Pennsylvania Historical Society holds Ferguson's personal papers in its archives.