(Testimony of Earl Ruby)
Mr. Ruby.
Yes; three.
Mr. Hubert.
Any from the first marriage?
Mr. Ruby.
No.
Mr. Hubert.
For the record, would you state the names of the children and their ages?
Mr. Ruby.
Robert, 15 years of age; Denise, 13 years of age; and Joyce, 10 years of age.
Mr. Hubert.
Where do you presently reside?
Mr. Ruby.
29925 Woodland Drive, Southfield, Mich.
Mr. Hubert.
Is Southfield near Detroit?
Mr. Ruby.
Yes; it is a suburb, northwest suburb of Detroit.
Mr. Hubert.
Mr. Ruby, I wish to get some general background concerning you, starting off with where you were born and where you spent the early years of your life. Will you tell us, please?
Mr. Ruby.
Yes, sir. I was born in Chicago on April 16, 1915, and I lived on what is known as the east side of Chicago, and went to school in that area for a few years, and then my mother and father became separated, and I was sent to a foster home, and then I also was sent to live on a farm for a year, a little more than a year. Then I came back and lived in another foster home for awhile. Then we sort of, the family sort of, got together and I moved back with my mother and the rest of the family other than my father, and then we more or less lived together until I enlisted in the Service in 1942, and then my mother passed away in 1944, and then I became married in 1945. Is that skipping too much, do you think?
Mr. Hubert.
No; I would like to go back a bit and get some dates on some of the things you have said there. For example, when did your father and mother separate so that home was broken?
Mr. Ruby.
I don't know. I don't remember, it is so far.
Mr. Hubert.
How old were you, roughly?
Mr. Ruby.
I don't even know, 8, 7, 8, 9. I don't even remember.
Mr. Hubert.
In other words, you think it would have been around the early 1920's, 1922, 1923, 1924, somewhere along in there?
Mr. Ruby.
Yes. I don't remember those dates at all.
Mr. Hubert.
What were the foster homes? Were they sort of orphanages?
Mr. Ruby.
No.
Mr. Hubert.
Or homes.
Mr. Ruby.
Private homes.
Mr. Hubert.
Private homes?
Mr. Ruby.
Private homes.
Mr. Hubert.
Were you separated from your brothers and sisters when you went to the foster home, or did they go to the same foster home?
Mr. Ruby.
On the farm I was with my brother Sam, and Jack was in another farm some distance away from us. In the foster home Sam and I were together again, I think, just Sam and I. Then in another foster home, I think Jack was with us. The three of us were in one foster home together.
Mr. Hubert.
Now, you said that you lived at what was called the east side in Chicago.
Mr. Ruby.
Yes; it was like the ghetto of Chicago.
Mr. Hubert.
I wanted to get what sort of a neighborhood is that? What sort of a district was it?
Mr. Ruby.
It was the Maxwell Street district of Chicago.
Mr. Hubert.
Could you describe that a bit?
Mr. Ruby.
It is where they have the pushcarts on the street. I don't know a word that would describe that, but you know, have all their wares displayed right on the street and right on the sidewalk. It is several blocks long.
Mr. Hubert.
The foster homes were not in that neighborhood, were they?
Mr. Ruby.
No, no.
Mr. Hubert.
Where were the farms?
Mr. Ruby.
The farm that I was on was in Woodstock, Ill.
Mr. Hubert.
What sort of work were you doing on the farm?
Mr. Ruby.
We helped the farmer, you know, with regular farm chores. We
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