# Mrs. Viola Ruffner — Up from Slavery character guide

> Mrs. Viola Ruffner in Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Ruffner, fearing Mrs. Ruffner

**First appearance:** 0005-ii-boyhood-days

## Snapshot

The exacting Vermont-born employer whose demand for spotless floors and straightened fences taught young Booker discipline, and who became one of his first true friends.

## Who they are

Ruffner terrifies the boy Washington with her insistence on cleanliness and order, yet he soon learns to trust her and she to trust him implicitly. She lets him attend school for an hour a day in winter, encourages his hunger for learning, and presides over the dry-goods-box library that becomes his first. Her household is where his famous tidiness and self-respect take root, making her the unlikely first teacher of the man who would teach thousands.

## Relationships

### [General Samuel C. Armstrong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/characters/general_samuel_c_armstrong)

_professional_

Mrs. Ruffner was a teacher at Hampton Institute and worked closely with General Armstrong in educating formerly enslaved people.

### [Miss Olivia A. Davidson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/characters/miss_olivia_a_davidson)

_professional_

Olivia Davidson was a teacher at Tuskegee and later married Booker T. Washington; she had a collegial relationship with Mrs. Ruffner.

## In the story

### [Up from Slavery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/chapters/up-from-slavery)

Washington's employer in West Virginia who taught him the value of cleanliness and order.

### [The Struggle for an Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/chapters/iii-the-struggle-for-an-education)

Employer who teaches Washington cleanliness, order, and honesty; becomes a trusted friend and encourages his education.

### [Helping Others](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/chapters/iv-helping-others)

Provided work and assistance to Washington during the difficult period after his mother's death.

### [V: The Reconstruction Period](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/chapters/v-the-reconstruction-period)

Mentioned indirectly as part of Washington's earlier experiences; not directly in this chapter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/characters/mrs_viola_ruffner
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/up_from_slavery_se/characters