Elizabeth Virginia Dimitry Ruth

Elizabeth Virginia Dimitry Ruth (September 3, 1839 - September 22, 1891) was a poet, author, and educator. Virginia was the mixed-race Creole daughter of Alexander Dimitry and one of the few educated family members who did not attend Georgetown like her mixed-race father, siblings, and uncles. Both of her brothers, Charles Patton Dimitry and John Bull Smith Dimitry, obtained degrees at the institution and became well-known Southern authors. Virginia wrote a book of poetry and a novel. She was honored by her student, American author George Augustin, who dedicated the book Romances of New Orleans to her. Her one daughter, Lizzie D. Ruth, married her Creole first cousin, Dracos Anthony Dimitry. He was also the mayor of Corencro. Her daughter's marriage was one of the few instances where members of the Dimitry Family chose to marry Creoles instead of mixing with whites. Another such case was George Pandely, who also chose to marry his first cousin, who was also Creole. Virginia's family underwent racial hardships during her lifetime, some of which resulted in prominent legal cases, including: Forstall, f.p.c. v. Dimitry (1833) and Pandelly v. Wiltz (1854).

Virginia was born in Washington, DC, to Alexander Dimitry and Mary Powell Mills. She was raised in New Orleans by a prominent, educated Creole family. On December 31, 1856, she was involved in a mixed-race marriage to Enoch Fenwick Ruth at the age of seventeen. Enoch was active in the Department of Indian Affairs as Chief Clerk of the Finance Division and eventually became Secretary of the Commission to establish a treaty with the Minneconjon Indians in 1865. Virginia's husband, Enoch, sadly committed suicide in 1867. After which, Virginia migrated to New Orleans, where she became active in education following the footsteps of her father, Alexander. She established the Select School, which was active from 1878 to 1882. Virginia was also an active Southern writer. Virginia migrated to Corencro, where she lived out the rest of her life on the plantation of her daughter, Lizzie D. Ruth, and son-in-law, Dracos Anthony Dimitry. Virginia died the same year her son-in-law became a councilman on September 22, 1891, at fifty-two years of age.