Ruby Diamond

Ruby Pearl Diamond was from a Jewish family. At the conclusion of the Civil War, her grandparents, Robert Williams and Helena Dzialynsky, relocated with their five daughters from Jasper, Florida, to Tallahassee. The family had some wealth and opened a store before purchasing three plantations for cotton production. Williams's daughter Henrietta married Julius Diamond, a Tallahassee merchant and city commissioner in 1879. == Education ==

In 1905, Diamond graduated from Florida State College (renamed Florida State College for Women in 1905, then Florida State University in 1947), earning a degree in chemistry. Despite having a bachelor's degree, Diamond once said that she "wasn't taught to do a blessed thing on earth but smile". == Later life ==

On the death of her father in 1914, Diamond inherited the family mercantile store, the family home, and other properties in downtown Tallahassee. She sold the store, but kept and managed the downtown real estate and buildings for several decades. == Philanthropy ==

s During her life, Diamond was known to be a generous philanthropist, contributing to at least thirty-seven organizations. and Tallahassee's Temple Israel. donating properties worth six figures during the 1970s and 1980s In 1970, Florida State University named the largest auditorium on campus the Ruby Diamond Auditorium. Following a $38 million renovation, it was renamed in 2010 as the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. Designated the primary performance venue for Florida State University, it is on the first floor of the Westcott Building. Ruby Diamond Foundation She willed her estate to the Ruby Diamond Foundation, a charitable trust to continue support for 24 nonprofit entities. As of 2022, since beginning its giving in 1984, the foundation had distributed more than $6 million. == Personal life ==

Diamond was known to her friends as "Miss Ruby". Diamond began a project in 1945 that she called the "Diamond Vegetable Basket". Each year she provided a coupon for fertilizer and vegetable seed to each welfare recipient in Leon County. Diamond stated, "It gives the elderly people a feeling of welcome and security at mealtime when told that the vegetables came from their own garden." Inspiration came from her father, who was Leon County commission chairman for ten years. Julius Diamond provided vegetable seed for area farmers. and numismatist. She was also active politically and fought for racial equality and lower taxes. Ruby and Sydney Diamond joined other Jewish community members to found Temple Israel in 1937. Diamond and her foundation were the temple's largest contributors. == References ==