Attended 1917-1918

Birth: 9 Aug 1901, Newberry County, South Carolina
Death: 25 Mar 1988, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Parents:
John Alexander Blackwelder (1866-1935)
Dora Esther “Essie” Fisher (1867-1947)

Siblings:
Oscar Fisher Blackwelder (1898-1961)
Mary Elizabeth Blackwelder King (1906-1988)

Burial: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, Kannapolis, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Source: www.findagrave.com, #42789550.

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Ruth was the daughter of former Mont Amoena student and faculty member, Dora Esther “Essie” Fisher Blackwelder.

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The Concord Daily Tribune (Concord, NC), 7 Jun 1918, p. 4.

THE COMMENCEMENT AT MOUNT PLEASANT
A Great Occasion – Medals Awarded, Excellent Addresses, Next Session opens September 11.

… The Scholarship medal, which is awarded to the student in the classical course who attains the highest average grade with perfect deportment, went to Miss Ruth Blackwelder, of Concord, grade 96.66…

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Hickory Daily Record (Hickory, NC), 8 Nov 1956, p.1.

SAYS N.C. NEEDS CONSTITUTION THAT’S MODERN
Miss Ruth Blackwelder of L. R. Faculty, Rotary Speaker

“The Need for a New State Constitution for North Carolina,” was the subject of a talk this afternoon at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Hiciory Rotary club.

Miss Ruth Blackwelder, Associate Professor of History at Lenoir Rhyne College, was the speaker. The program was arranged by Brooks Todd, who gave something of the speaker’s background in introducing her. After receiving her A. B. Degree from Wittenberg College, Miss Blackwelder obtained her Master’s Degree from the University of North Carolina, and the University of Southern California. She also had a Research Fellowship with the Institute of Research in Social Science, UNC. She was in government service during World War Two, from January 1942 to September 1943. She later was a member of the faculty of Newberry College as an Associate Professor. She has been a member of the Lenoir Rhyne College faculty since September 1954 [1945].

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Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, NC), 29 Oct 1961.

New History of Orange Published

HILLSBORO, Oct. 28 – A new history of Orange County from its organization until the  Civil War was published this week.

Entitled “The Age of Orange, Political and Intellectual Leadership in North Carolins, 1752-1861,” the 186 page book was written by Ruth Blackwelder, former Chapel Hill resident and now professor of history at Lenoir Rhyne College. It is published by William Loftin of Charlotte and is dedicated to William Alexander Graham, governor and U.S. senator from Hillsboro.

Prof. Blackwelder started the book as a degree thesis while a research assistant with the Institute for Research in Social Science at the university from 1938 to 1941. A native of Newberry, S. C., she received the A. B. at Wittenberg University and her M. A. from the university at Chapel Hill. She has been on the history faculty at Lenoir Rhyne since 1945.

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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), 23 May 1967, p. 19

Retiring UNC-C Profs Honored

Two UNC-C professors who are retiring at the end of this academic year were honored Monday by the board of trustees of the Consolidated University of North Carolina.

Mrs. J. L. Winningham, professor of political science, had been at UNC-C for 20 years. Miss Ruth Blackwelder is retiring as associate professor of history after five years at UNC-C.

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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), 27 Mar 1988, p. 4C

Ruth Blackwelder, 86, Ex-UNCC Professor
By Gerry Hostetler (Staff Writer)

Ruth Blackwelder’s two great loves were history and her Lutheran faith.

Miss Blackwelder, retired UNC-Charlotte associate professor of history emeritus, died Friday, March 25, 1988. A Mallard Creek resident, she was 86.

”She was an avid lover of history and a historian to the day she died,” the Rev. Dick Little, her pastor at Advent Lutheran Church, said Saturday.

Miss Blackwelder wrote three booklets on the church’s history. She also wrote ”The Age of Orange,” a history of Orange County, and ”Old Charlotte and Old Mecklenburg Today.”

Loy Witherspoon, UNCC director of religious affairs, recalled that ”she had total dedication to teaching and to her students.”

She was on the church building committee, and ”realized her dream when she became a charter member,” Witherspoon said.

Bonnie Cone, then head of old Charlotte College and later a vice chancellor at UNCC, brought Miss Blackwelder to the college in 1962 as a history teacher. ”I was impressed with her knowledge of N.C. history,” Cone said. ”And she was very knowledgeable of the coming of the Lutheran faith to this area.”

Miss Blackwelder, a native of Newberry, S.C., held degrees from Wittenburg College and UNC-Chapel Hill. She had taught at Newberry College during WorldWar II, and taught for 17 years at Lenoir-Rhyne College before coming to Charlotte.

She was a member of Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society; the Mecklenburg Historical Association; and Friends of  UNCC.

Visitation is 2 to 3 p.m. today at Wilkinson Funeral Home, Concord. Funeral is 4 p.m. today at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cabarrus County.

Survivors are her nephews, John King of Concord, Theodore Blackwelder of Phoenix, David Blackwelder of Wilmington, Del.

In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to Advent Lutheran Church Building Fund, 9540 University City Blvd., Charlotte, N.C. 28213.