Albion Interactive History / People
Rogers, Ruth Fairchild, 1893
Died September 6, 1978
Albion College Graduate
Class of 1915
Biography
Born January 9, 1893, to a family which dates back to 1832 in Michigan, Ruth Rogers was noted as a dental hygienist and for dental education. She graduated from Albion High School in 1911 and Albion College in 1915. She taught and coached girls’ basketball in Michigan, Iowa, and Saskatchewan, reopening a school there that had been closed during World War II.
After this first career, Ruth became interested in dental care. She entered the University of Michigan and became certified as a dental hygienist. She was president of the American Dental Assistants’ Association and a member of its first certification board. She also edited the first four national examinations for dental hygienists.
From 1955 to 1973, she was the first dental health consultant for the Michigan Department of Health, a job for which she had to learn to drive a car for travel around the state demonstrating dental hygiene in classrooms and to health departments. She instituted the fluoride program in Michigan schools and became known as “the lady who could get fluoride treatments at low cost.” She was a faithful member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Ruth died on September 6, 1978.
Source: Albion Public Library, Local History Room
From: Albion AAUW. Some Notable Women of the Albion Area. Albion, Michigan: American Association of University Women. 1998.