August 5, 1943 ~ January 6, 2026 (age 82)
Ruth Crocker, PhD, of Auburn passed away peacefully at home on January 6th, 2026 at age 82. Beloved wife of sixty-one years to Malcolm Crocker, loving mother to Anne Crocker and Elizabeth (Liz) Crocker Rozek and devoted grandmother to grandchildren Claire and Max Rozek. Also survived by brother-in-law Donald Crocker, his wife Jocelyn Crocker, and their children, Ruth, John and Phillip.
Dr. Crocker was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England and grew up in Southampton, Hampshire where she attended high school. She was a graduate of Oxford University (St. Anne’s College, B.A. (honors), M.A., 1964). After marrying on July 18, 1964, Ruth and Malcolm Crocker moved to the US, first living in Huntsville (AL, 1964-1967) where Malcolm worked on NASA’s Saturn 5 space program, then in Anaheim (CA, 1967), Liverpool (UK, 1967-1969), West Lafayette (IN, 1970-1983), and Sydney (Australia, 1976-77), before settling in Auburn (AL) in 1983.
Dr. Crocker received an M.A. (1975) and PhD (1982) in history from Purdue University. She was a professor of history at Auburn University from 1982 to 2013, receiving tenure in 1992 and promotion to full professorship in 2004. She was among a group of faculty who helped develop Auburn’s Women’s Studies Program. After it received permanent funding, she served two terms as director (1989 to 1991 and 2005 to 2011). Dr. Crocker’s areas of specialization included United States history from 1865 – 1930; gender, class, and ethnicity in U.S. history and historiography; critical history of social work and social welfare, including reform, voluntarism, settlement houses; philanthropy and foundations; charity and the cultural history of the gift; and disability history.
Dr. Crocker authored numerous academic articles and two books, Social Work and Social Order: The Settlement Movement in Two Industrial Cities, 1889-1930 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992); and Mrs. Russell Sage: Women’s Activism and Philanthropy in Gilded Age and Progressive Era America (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2006; paperback edition 2008).
Among numerous honors and grants, Dr. Crocker received the Auburn University Creative Research and Scholarship Award (2012), annually given to one professor in Liberal Arts for outstanding research and scholarship, and the Humanities Achievement Award, College of Liberal Arts (2001).
A life-long lover of music, Dr. Crocker played the violin in the Auburn University Orchestra for many years, studied violin into her seventies, and played with various local musical groups. She was a keen sailer who loved the ocean. She loved reading, writing poetry, and playing tennis.
Dr. Crocker’s family will hold a celebration of her life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation to PBS at https://foundation.pbs.org/donation/
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