Ruth Dorothea Kennedy Ellington, the only sister of jazz composer and band leader Edward “Duke” Kennedy Ellington, is significant in her own right. In 1941, Ellington and the “Duke” established Tempo Music, Inc., and he appointed Ruth Ellington president of the company, allowing her to oversee her famous brother’s copyrights, contracts, publishing, recordings, and financial affairs. She focused on Tempo’s publishing prestige for classical music rather than its profits, a unique approach that significantly contributed to the lasting legacy of his music. She also purchased a four-story home to house his awards and medals during this time.
Born July 2, 1915, in Washington, D.C., sixteen years after Duke Ellington, she was the daughter of James Edwards Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. Her mother worked for the United States government, and her father worked briefly as a butler for the White House during the Warren Harding administration. Both parents were renowned pianists.
Ruth Ellington attended public elementary and junior high schools in Washington D.C. In 1930, at age 15, she and her family moved to New York City to join Duke Ellington. She completed her high school education in Manhattan.
In 1939, Ellington graduated from Columbia University Teachers College with a degree in Biology. She then traveled to Paris where under the guidance of family friend Josephine Baker, she studied languages. Her thesis compared biology classroom teachings in New York and Paris.
Ellington married Daniel James, a journalist and political scientist from Liverpool, England, on June 18, 1942, in Greenwich, Connecticut. Their union produced two sons, Michael and Stephen James, but their marriage ended in divorce. By 1950, Ellington hosted a radio show on WLIB, a commercial jazz station in New York, which became a leading voice for New York’s Black community. Her show provided a platform for Black voices and music and contributed significantly to the community’s cultural and social empowerment. In 1964, Ellington co-founded the jazz ministry of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan with the then-jazz pastor, Rev. John Garcia Gensel.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon invited Ruth and Duke Ellington to the White House to honor his 70th birthday. Six years later, in 1979, Ruth Ellington married McHenry Boatwright, an American operatic bass-baritone and singing teacher at Ohio State University. Boatwright performed for several U.S. presidents and died in 1994. During this time, Ruth Ellington became heavily devoted to the Manhattan branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), actively participating in their initiatives and promoting its civil rights agenda.
In 1988, the Smithsonian Institute, using a special appropriation from Congress, purchased Edward Duke Ellington’s musical compositions, manuscripts, writing, and historical artifacts from Ruth Ellington. Four years later, she sold 51 percent of Tempo Music, Inc. to a New York publisher.
Ruth Dorothea Ellington Boatwright died on March 6, 2004, in Manhattan, New York, at the age of 88 from a long-term illness. She is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx County, New York.
