Senate Resolution No. 299

BY: Senator RITCHIE

MOURNING the death of Ruth Gruber, distinguished
citizen, humanitarian, and pioneering
photojournalist and author

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to pay tribute to
citizens of the State of New York whose lifework and civic endeavor
served to enhance the quality of life in their communities and the great
State of New York; and

WHEREAS, It is with great sorrow that this Legislative Body records
the passing of Ruth Gruber, distinguished citizen, humanitarian, and
pioneering photojournalist and author; she died on November 17, 2016, at
the age of 105; and

WHEREAS, Ruth Gruber was born on September 30, 1911, in Brooklyn,
New York, one of five children of David and Gussie Gruber, Eastern
European Jewish immigrants; and

WHEREAS, A brilliant student, she graduated from high school when
she was 15 years-old and from New York University at the age of 18; and

WHEREAS, She continued her education, earning a master's degree in
German at the University of Wisconsin at age 19 and a doctorate in
German literature at the University of Cologne, Germany, at the age of
20, one of the youngest students to receive a doctorate; and

WHEREAS, In 1932, Ruth Gruber traveled across Germany, witnessing
the anti-Semitism and Nazi rallies prevalent at the time; and

WHEREAS, In 1935, she joined the Herald Tribune and traveled to
Soviet Russia, including Siberian labor camps for a feature series on
women under Fascism and Communism; she was the first foreign
correspondent to fly through Siberia into the Soviet Arctic; and

WHEREAS, During World War II, Secretary of the Interior, Harold L.
Ickes, appointed Ruth Gruber as his Special Assistant; in this role, she
carried out a study on the prospects of Alaska for homesteading post war
G.I.'s; and

WHEREAS, In 1944, Ruth Gruber accompanied 1,000 Jewish refugees from
Europe during their perilous trip across the Atlantic on a ship bound
for Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, the largest group of Jewish
refugees to arrive in the United States during World War II; and

WHEREAS, She chronicled her experiences and interviews with these
Jewish refugees in one of her 19 books, Haven: The Dramatic Story of
1,000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America, which later
became a television mini-series; and

WHEREAS, The Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum in Oswego,
New York is dedicated to the refugees' stories; and

WHEREAS, Ruth Gruber also witnessed, photographed and later
published a book about the Jewish refugees from the Exodus 1947 ship
entering Port of Haifa after it was attacked by the Royal Navy while
making an attempt to deliver 4,500 Jewish refugees and about the
horrific conditions the refugees endured on ships and in camps; and

WHEREAS, She was married to Philip Michaels from 1951 until his
death in 1968; she was also the wife of Henry Rosner from 1974 until his
death in 1982; and

WHEREAS, In addition to her husbands, Ruth Gruber was predeceased by
her step-daughter, Barbara Seaman; she is survived by her two children,
David and Celia Michaels, and two step-daughters, Jeri Drucker and
Elaine Rosner-Jeria, as well as nine grandchildren and six
great-grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, In addition to her many books, Ruth Gruber wrote a popular
column for Hadassah Magazine, Diary of an American Housewife and in
1978, she spent a year in Israel writing Raquela: A Woman of Israel,
about an Israeli nurse who worked in a British detention camp and in a
hospital in Beersheba; this book won the National Jewish Book Award in
1979 for Best Book on Israel; and

WHEREAS, At the age of 74, Ruth Gruber visited isolated Jewish
villages in Ethiopia, continuing to write about her experiences well
into the later years of her life, and publishing her last book in 2007;
and

WHEREAS, Ruth Gruber received many awards and accolades for her
writing and humanitarian acts, including the Na'amat Golda Meir Human
Rights Award and awards from the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of
Tolerance; in addition, she was honored in 2008 for her work defending
free expression by the National Coalition Against Censorship; and

WHEREAS, Armed with a humanistic spirit, imbued with a sense of
compassion, and having contributed to the growth and excellence of this
great Empire State, Ruth Gruber leaves behind a legacy which will long
endure the passage of time and will remain as a comforting memory to all
she served and befriended; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
mourn the death of Ruth Gruber, distinguished citizen, humanitarian, and
pioneering female photojournalist and author; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the family of Ruth Gruber.