McCollum, Ruby (1915—)
McCollum, Ruby (1915—)
American murderer . Born in Live Oak, Florida, in 1915; children: at least one daughter.
Ruby McCollum was born in Live Oak, Florida, in 1915. As an African-American woman in the South before the era of the civil-rights movement, she suffered discrimination throughout her life. Although the exact circumstances of their relationship are unknown, McCollum was alleged to have become the mistress of a local white politician, Dr. C. LeRoy Adams, and to have borne a child by him. McCollum was convicted of murdering Adams in 1952, and was saved from the death penalty only through the efforts of white attorney Frank Cannon, who took her case without pay. After spending two years in the state penitentiary, McCollum was transferred to a high-security mental hospital, from which she was eventually released into the custody of her daughter. She was the subject of William Bradford Huie's book, Ruby McCollum: Woman in the Suwanee Jail.
Grant Eldridge , freelance writer, Pontiac, Michigan