Dr. Ruth Greenfield - "A Finished Prelude" - Opened one of the Deep South's 1st integrated music conservatories

Born Nov. 1923 in Key West, long-time Miamian, Ruth Wolkowsky
Greenfield is an American concert pianist, composer and teacher
who, through music, broke racial barriers and brought together
black and white students, taught by black and white teachers. She
moved to Paris in 1949 to study piano and there experienced a
society far more racially integrated than Miami, which was in the
throes of profound racial segregation ... in schools, beaches,
parks, restaurants. When she returned to Miami, Ruth founded the
Fine Arts Conservatory in 1951 in Miami, one of the first fully
integrated schools for music, art and dance in the South. This
pioneering color-blind approach was considered scandalous at the
time, but provided a breath of fresh air in a toxic society.
Greenfield continued to teach music for 32 years at what is today
Miami Dade College, Florida's first integrated college. Concerned
w urban blight in Downtown Miami in the late 70s early 80s, Ruth
founded the Lunchtime Lively Arts Series that brought music and
culture to downtown Miami. She has devoted her life to using
music to build bridges, bringing music to performers of all
races, ages and genders. Watch the documentary about Ruth - 
"instruments of Change." 


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