Ruth Clement Bond

Ruth Clement Bond
A young Black woman with light skin, wearing an academic cap and gown
Ruth Clement (later Bond), from a 1925 publication
BornMay 22, 1904
DiedOctober 24, 2005 (age 101)
Occupation(s)Educator, civic leader, artist
SpouseJ. Max Bond Sr.
ChildrenJ. Max Bond Jr.
RelativesJulian Bond (nephew)

Ruth Clement Bond (May 22, 1904 – October 24, 2005) was an African-American educator, civic leader and artist. As an educator, Bond taught at universities in Haiti, Liberia and Malawi. She headed the African-American Women's Association and in the course of her career advocated for women and children in the US, Afghanistan, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Tunisia. As an artist, Ruth is notable for elevating the utilitarian quilt into an avant-garde work of social commentary. Three such quilts remain from this creative period in the 1930s. Those quilts were exhibited at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Michigan State University Museum.