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Howe, Ruth-Arlene W. , 1933-

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1933 November 21-

Biographical note

Boston College professor emerita Ruth-Arlene (Wood) Howe earned degrees from Wellesley College (BA, 1955), Simmons College (MSW, 1957), and Boston College (JD, 1974). Early in her professional life, she worked as a psychiatric social worker (1957-1961), was active with the Boston League of Women Voters (1963-1968), and taught courses in social work at Simmons College (1970-1978). Howe joined the Massachusetts Bar in 1977. She taught at Boston College Law School from 1977 through her retirement in 2009, with successive promotions from visiting professor, to assistant professor, to tenured associate professor, and full professor in 1998, becoming the first Black woman to hold that rank at Boston College Law School. Howe's scholarship focused on children and family law, while her Boston College service included faculty advisor to the Boston College chapter of the Black Law Students Association, founding member and treasurer of the Boston College Law School Black Alumni Network, and the founding faculty advisor to the Third World Law Journal (now part of the Boston College Law Review). Howe was named professor emerita in 2009. In 2017, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association.

Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Identifier

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Ruth-Arlene Howe papers

 Collection
Identifier: BC-2025-135
Abstract Papers documenting the career of twentieth-century American legal scholar, professor of family law, and first tenured Black woman faculty member at Boston College Law School, Ruth-Arlene W. Howe. Her work is demonstrated through her correspondence, draft articles and presentations, ephemera, instructional materials, and professional committee minutes and reports. Also included are student materials from her undergraduate and graduate studies at Wellesley College, Simmons College, and Boston...
Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Dates: 1946 - 2023; Majority of material found within 1977 - 2006