Ruth Ellington Boatwright was Duke Ellington’s youngest sister who managed the Ellington Band and took control of Tempo Music, Duke’s legendary music publishing company.

The younger sister and only sibling of famed musician, composer and bandleader Edward “Duke” Ellington, Ruth was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in 1915 to piano-playing parents James Edward and Daisy (nee Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D.C. The well-connected, college educated beauty gained a measure of fame in her own right as a New York radio host in the 1950s, was influential in the establishment of jazz ministry and was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . Additionally, she became her brother’s business manager and oversaw his copyrights and other interests after his death.

Ms. Ellington was 16 years younger than her brother and therefore raised essentially as an only 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 in the District of Columbia, her father working for a time as a butler. In the 1930s, the family moved to New York City, where Duke had established himself as one of the premier jazz performers of the Harlem Renaissance. The siblings lost both parents while Ruth was still in her teens, and she adopted some of her brother’s bandmates as family. Throughout her life she would maintain contact with the performers and their wives, especially Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Otto Hardwick and Arthur Wetsol. Included in this supportive clan were Ivie Anderson, Joya Sherrill, Marie Cole, and Kay Davis, singers from the early days of Edward’s career.

Graduating with a degree in biology from Columbia University in 1939, Ruth was planning a thesis comparing educational techniques between Paris and New York when her brother asked her to run his his newly formed publishing company, Tempo Music. Her duties there most importantly included maintaining copyrights to Duke’s published music, recordings and performances. She remained as president of the organization from 1941 until 1995.

In the early 1950s, Ruth hosted a popular interview program on radio station WLIB, helping make it the leading voice for New York City’s black residents. And as the show was beamed to many US cities, the successful, well educated sophisticate promoted the rise of African-American culture across the country.

During this time, she was married to journalist and political scientist Daniel James, with whom she had two sons, Michael and Stephen James. The couple later divorced, but remained on friendly terms.

In 1969, Ms. Ellington was her brother’s escort to the White House when US president Richard Nixon hosted a gala in honor of the Duke’s 70th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day. Her beloved sibling passed away five years later, leaving the business and his extensive collection of manuscripts, sound recordings, honors and personal correspondence in her care.

Ruth married operatic baritone McHenry Boatwright in 1979 and they remained together until his 1994 death. A friend of the first designated jazz pastor, the Reverend John Garcia Gensel, she became a founder of the jazz ministry of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan and did various charity work promoting the NAACP throughout her life.

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. bought 77 boxes of Duke’s musical scores, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, correspondence, appointment books and business records from the Ellington estate in 1991. It is known as the Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials in honor of her dedicated loyalty to the legendary musician’s career.

Ruth Ellington Boatwright passed away at age 88 in 2004 after an extended illness. – IMDb Mini Biography By: Christopher Cameron

Family

Spouses McHenry Boatwright(1979 – 1994) (his death)

Daniel James (divorced, 2 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren)

Trivia

Joking about Duke’s choice to have his sister accompany him to the Nixon White House in 1969, Ruth said it was to avoid upsetting any of “his women”, as the charming bandleader was known to be as facile with the opposite gender as he was with the keys of his piano.

While visiting Europe after college graduation to increase her fluency in foreign languages, Ruth stayed with famous singer and dancer Josephine Baker, a close friend of her brother’s.

Ruth, who was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 16 years after her soon-to-be famous older brother Edward, AKA “Duke”, first remembered becoming aware of him when she heard one of his songs on the radio.

Quotes

[on her relationship with her brother Edward “Duke” Ellington]

He was the only brother I had, and I was his only sister. He took care of me from the time I was 12, and he’s still taking care of me.