Ruth Davidson Bell Alexander
We are sad to announce that Ruth Davidson Bell Alexander, a founding member of Our Bodies Ourselves, passed away on December 4, 2024.
Ruth was a writer, elementary math tutor, political activist, organic gardener, wife, mother of two, and grandmother of three.
She grew up in Staten Island, NY, spent her pre-teen and teen years in Los Angeles, her college years at UC Berkeley, her post-grad years in Cambridge, and her early years as a young wife in Bedford, MA.
In 1969, very pregnant with her first child, she attended a "Women and Their Bodies" workshop at MIT. Sitting on that floor with 20 or 30 other women, she finally felt rooted.
Ruth spent many years working with teenagers, helping them to accept and feel good about themselves as they grow into adults. Her book, "Changing Bodies, Changing Lives" (1998), was a direct outgrowth of that work and of her experience being part of the Our Bodies Ourselves collective.
She was also the author of "Number Jugglers" and "Fraction Jugglers," two number game books that help children learn to enjoy math.