A salute to Ruth Bernerito

I’m wearing a wrinkle-free cotton shirt today in honor of Ruth Bernerito.

Bernerito, whose death at 97 was reported recently in the Los Angeles Times, was born in 1916 in New Orleans. After she graduated from high school at 14 and started taking classes at Newcomb College, she was “one of two women allowed to take physical chemistry at Newcomb’s affiliated school, Tulane University,” according to the newspaper.

“We took it with the engineers, and they didn’t like it one bit,” Bernerito said in a 1986 oral history.

I am thankful she was allowed to take that class. Bernerito, who is credited with 55 patents, led the team that helped create wrinkle-resistant cotton.
–Joy