# Ruby Jean Johnson

Ruby Jean Johnson (November 16, 1916 – June 26, 1998) was a model, hostess, and socialite. Johnson was a "'glittering personality' of the Harlem Renaissance." Johnson worked as a hostess at the Savoy Ballroom and was the first Black woman to model for New York fashion magazines. In 1998, she was murdered by her neighbor.

## Biography

Ruby Jean Muckelroy was born on November 16, 1916, in Chattanooga, Oklahoma. When she was young, her father left her family and her mother put her in an orphanage. She lived at the orphanage for eight years and then moved to New Rochelle to live with her grandmother. In the early 1950s, she moved to Greenwich Village from New Rochelle. In the 1930s, she worked as a dance hostess in the Savoy ballroom. Around 1937, she met a German artist, and modeled for him as he "taught her how to be beautiful, how to speak, how to be powerful." Their relationship lasted through World War II. Johnson worked as a model at this time.
In 1952, Johnson became further acquainted with Walter Johnson, a jazz drummer she had met early in her time in New York City. Although oral accounts recall them marrying in 1953, there is not a civil record; they likely did not legally marry due to Johnson's marriage to his first wife. After Walter Johnson died in 1977, his first wife staked a claim on his estate, leaving Johnson bereft.
She later found a romantic companion in Jimmy Monroe, Billie Holiday's widower.
Johnson later worked as a home-care attendant. As her neighborhood changed, she refused to move away, despite having a stray bullet shatter her mirror and having her apartment repeatedly robbed.

## Death

On June 26, Johnson was found in her bathtub raped and strangled. Two days after her death, Rudy Giuliani offered a $10,000 award for information leading to her killer. A few days after her death, her former neighbor, Elbert Mitchell, was seen trying to sell her videocassette recorder and her jewelry. He was later arrested due to DNA evidence and Mitchell claimed that he had been having an affair with Johnson, which her friends did not believe. Mitchell was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without a possibility of parole. The judge sentenced Mitchell as a persistent felony offender to another 25 years in prison for a burglary charge.
Johnson's murder was covered by Charlie LeDuff. His profile on her was cited when he won the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award.

## Biography

* ↑ Behrmann, Marcy. "BOOK PROFILES AVERAGE NEW YORKERS." Augusta Chronicle, The (GA), ALL ed., sec. YOUR LIFE, 23 May 2004, p. G07.
* 1 2 "Newsmakers." Houston Chronicle, 3 STAR ed., sec. A, 30 June 1999, p. 2. NewsBank: Access World News.
* 1 2 3 A violent death: A useful and loving life. (1998, Jul 02). New York Amsterdam News Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/violent-death-useful-loving-life/docview/390201843/se-2
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 LeDuff, Charlie (2005-01-25). Work and Other Sins: Life in New York City and Thereabouts. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-17495-1.
* ↑ Harlem murder victim, 81, was ex-model and wife of jazzman (1998). . New York: New York Times Company. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/harlem-murder-victim-81-was-ex-model-wife-jazzman/docview/2235951362/se-2
* 1 2 "Ruby Jean Johnson." Notable Black American Women, Gale, 2002. Gale In Context: Biography.
* ↑ McQUILLAN, ALICE. "MURDER CHARGE IN JAZZ FIGURE'S DEATH." New York Daily News (NY), NATIONAL ed., sec. NEWS, 26 June 1999, p. 5. NewsBank: Access World News.
* 1 2 3 McQUILLAN, ALICE. "SHE'S SLAIN - LEGEND LIVES HARLEMITE HAD STYLE, COURAGE." New York Daily News (NY), SPORTS FINAL ed., sec. NEWS, 6 July 1998, p. 8. NewsBank: Access World News.
* 1 2 Neighbor tied to killing of a harlem personality (1999). . New York: New York Times Company. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/neighbor-tied-killing-harlem-personality/docview/2234730053/se-2
* ↑ McQUILLAN, ALICE. "MAN CHARGED IN KILLING, RAPE OF HARLEM SOCIALITE." New York Daily News (NY), SPORTS FINAL ed., sec. NEWS, 26 June 1999, p. 10. NewsBank: Access World News.
* ↑ Parolee questioned in death of woman, 81 (1998). . New York: New York Times Company. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/parolee-questioned-death-woman-81/docview/2235842945/se-2
* 1 2 Murderer of first african american model gets life. (2002, Jan 31). Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/murderer-first-african-american-model-gets-life/docview/565845966/se-2
* ↑ Columbia giving awards to reporter and novelist (1999). . New York: New York Times Company. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/columbia-giving-awards-reporter-novelist/docview/2234822445/se-2