Ruth James Wingo

Ruth James Wingo, editor of the 1932 Lass-0, has used her journalism degree very little professionally. Nevertheless, she considers her journalism education invaluable. In fact, she considers it so important that she and her husband, David, founded the Ruth James Wingo Scholarship for journalism majors at TWU. Dr. Mary Sparks, chair of the Department of Journalism and Broadcasting at TWU, estimates that over 50 students have benefited from the Wingo scholarship since 1978. When Ruth James entered the College of Industrial Arts (CIA, now TWU) in 1928, she selected journalism as a major because she thought it sounded interesting when she looked through her sister’s catalog. At that time, CIA freshman students were allowed to take only the basic courses, so Mrs. Wingo had her first taste of journalism as a sophomore. During the years, Mrs. Wingo served many roles in the department. As a junior, she was president of the Journalism Club. Her senior year, she was vice president of the Southwest Student Press Club. It was also during her senior year that a Theta Sigma Phi (now Women in Communications, Inc.) chapter was approved for TWU. The position that kept Mrs. Wingo the busiest during her senior year was probably that of the editor of the weekly newspaper. Henry Blagg was the head of the print shop which was located in the basement of the administration building. While working on the newspaper staff, Mrs. Wingo wrote reviews of art exhibits, musicals and plays. Among her most interesting experiences were interviews with composer and singer of ballads John Avery Lomax and the well-known American writer Carl Sandburg.