Editing Ruby Elzy (section)

==Family and early life==
Elzy was born in [[Pontotoc, Mississippi]], and educated at [[Rust College]], the [[Ohio State University]] (graduating in 1930) and the [[Juilliard School]] (graduating in 1934). At Juilliard she was a pupil of [[Lucia Dunham]]. Her sister [[Amanda Elzy]] (died 2004) was a prominent educator after whom [[Amanda Elzy High School]] in [[Greenwood, Mississippi]] is named.<ref name=weaver>{{cite book|last1=Weaver|first1=David E|title=Black Diva of the Thirties: the life of Ruby Elzy|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781604737653|accessdate=9 February 2015 | url=https://archive.org/details/blackdivaofthirt0000weav |url-access=registration|quote=amanda ruby elzy school.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/blackdivaofthirt0000weav/page/191 191]–192}}</ref> Their mother Emma Elzy (died 1985, aged 98) was a teacher and prominent member of the Methodist church, in whose memory the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church presents an annual Emma K. Elzy award.<ref>{{cite web|title=Awards: Emma K. Elzy Award|url=http://www.mississippi-umc.org/awards|publisher=Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church|accessdate=9 February 2015}}</ref>  Ruby had two sisters, Amanda and Beatrice Wayne and one brother, Robert.  Their father Charlie abandoned the family when Ruby was five.