Real name: Ruby Stuart Pickens

Ruby Stuart Pickens, born January 13, 1880, in Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama

In 1904 she married William Pratt Tartt. From childhood on she was fascinated by the folk music. By assistance to John A. Lomax and Harold Courlander in their studies of African-American folklore, she collected and recorded numerous songs.

When she died in 1974, 5000 manuskripts of songs and stories was gaven to the Livingston University.