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Biography

Ruth Walker is the mother of Addy Walker. Addy refers to her as Momma. Ruth, like Ben and her children until their escape and the end of the war, has been enslaved her entire life. She's cautious but practical and while she thinks hard before acting, she takes action when she needs to or feels she must do so. She does not speak without thinking and keeps her feelings on the inside many times (which may be a byproduct of growing up enslaved). Ruth is a skilled seamstress and does very fine work; it is partially because of this skill that she believed Master Stevens would not break up her family, though her skills are mostly used for mending. After the selling of her husband and son, she decides she cannot risk losing Addy and decides to escape--and has to make the difficult choice to leave her youngest, Esther, behind so she and Addy won't be caught. In freedom, Ruth does not make much at her job; Mrs. Ford starts her out at a dollar a week, but by the time of High Hopes for Addy the ten-dollar yearly fee for the Institute for Colored Youth is still more than she makes in two months of work. She is a hard worker, many times seeking to complete her work over taking any leisure time for herself. She is an accomplished cook and smart; while initially illiterate as most enslaved people were, she is quickly able to pick up basic literacy from Addy's teaching. She gives Addy advice as she grows up about how to deal with a world where blacks are not considered to be at an equal position to whites. She is a devoted mother and wife and encourages Addy to do her best and improve in all ways. She wants her children to grow up in a world better than what she had. Ruth believes that one should not to give in to hating white people for their abuses, and reminds herself and Addy that a heart with hate doesn't have room for love.