Rural School Teacher: Ruth Woolf

Ruth Woolf was born in Crittendon County, Kentucky on November 7, 1902. When she was about ten years old her family moved to Tempe, Arizona. She grew up wanting to be a school teacher and saw her dream come true by attending and graduating in 1922 from Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University).    

Her first teaching job came that year with a position in a one-room school house in Beaver Creek, about 25 miles south of Sedona. The salary was $50 per month. Ruth rode three miles by horseback to school every day from Soda Springs Guest Ranch where she lived. Soda Springs was also a “dude” ranch where visitors from the “East” would come to experience the “West.” Upon arriving at Soda Springs Ruth, too, needed to learn to ride a horse, her transportation to and from her work. She had never ridden before but learned quickly by taking part in a cattle round-up.    

As a school teacher, Ruth’s responsibilities included firing up the wood stove on cold days, cutting students’ hair, checking in on them when they were absent, ridding trails of rattlesnakes, and playing field games like softball. She also introduced the concept of “field trips” by playing hooky with her students after getting approval from the school board.    

She met her future husband, Walter Jordan (Willie and Annie’s sixth child), after she began her work in a one-room school house in Beaver Creek. Since teachers could not work after they were married, she began her second calling in Sedona as a farmer’s wife after their marriage in 1930.    

BIO: Ruth Woolf Jordan (1902-1996) was originally from Kentucky. Her family moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1912. Ruth followed her childhood dream of becoming a rural school teacher. She met her future husband, Walter Jordan (Willie and Annie’s sixth child), after she began her work in a one-room school house in Beaver Creek. Since teachers could not work after they were married, she began her second calling in Sedona as a farmer’s wife after their marriage in 1930.