Ruth Johnson Colvin saw a problem—pervasive adult illiteracy—and used formidable organizing skills and tenacity to help solve it through the creation of Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc.
Colvin learned the scope of illiteracy in 1961 when she read the 1960 US Census report that more than 11,000 people where she lived in Syracuse, NY could not read. Her life was transformed as she undertook the necessary training needed to help correct the situation. Colvin sought out and received professional advice from Syracuse University PhDs and wrote books on literacy training, which were made available to nonprofessionals.
She determined that traditional classroom methods would not work and instead focused on the development of community networks in which a climate was created that empowered adult learners in new ways. Ruth Colvin founded Literacy Volunteers of America. The organization developed tutor training programs, special materials, community support components, and a model that involves people from all walks of life in a community. Former dropouts became tutors, as did bank presidents, educators, and many others. In 2002, Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. merged with Laubach Literacy International to form ProLiteracy Worldwide. Of her sometimes daunting work, Colvin has said, “If you believe in your idea, you go from there. If you do it with love, it will work out.”
During her more than over four decades of literacy work, Colvin has published nine books, and visited or worked in more than sixty countries. She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Presidential Medal of Volunteer Action, and nine honorary doctorates.
Her moto: “There are many ways to be educated, to get knowledge and wisdom as well as specific skills,” has motivated Ruth Colvin throughout her life. Colvin traveled internationally for many years to share her knowledge, exemplifying the power of one individual to change the world for the better.
