Born as Ruth Blanchard Miller, after her marriage she adopted her husband’s name of Fracker. Her father, Kempster Blanchard Miller (1870-1933), was an engineer, author, and businessman. She also used his first name and worked sometimes as Ruth Kempster. In 1922 she went to California and studied at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and the Stickney Memorial School of Art in Pasadena. Ruth Miller continued her studies in New York, Paris and Firenze. She later joined Stickney and taught portraiture. In addition to classic painting, she focused on murals.
With her painting Struggle she won the silver medal at the 1932 Art Competitions in Los Angeles. It showed a realistic depiction of a fight between a black and a white freestyle wrestler with heads much too small compared to their bodies. It is worth noting that at that time, racial discrimination was still prevalent in the USA, but the work was awarded a prize, nevertheless. Today it is in a private collection.
United States