Local Directory
Prepared by the Staff of Ruth Hughes Memorial District Library
Local Government Websites
Who is Ruth Hughes?
Ruth E. Hughes was born in Imlay City on October 24, 1898. After graduating from Imlay City High School in 1916, she attended and received her first degree from what is now Eastern Michigan University. After teaching in a country school for a while, she attended and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1926. Ruth spent the rest of her career teaching fourth and fifth grade for Center Line Schools, retiring in 1962.
Upon her death in March of 1985, her Trust was read:
All the remainder of the trust property I bequeath to the Library of Imlay Township for the building of an Imlay Township Library in the name of Ruth E. Hughes. Some $350, 000 was given to construct a library building. That building, the Ruth Hughes Memorial District Library, was dedicated and opened on January 27, 1990.
Most accounts say she was a gentle lady who loved motivating children to read. It would make sense that she would so generously donate money to build a library in the city where she was born where there had been no library when she was a child, wanting future generations to benefit from such a place in their community.