As the early twentieth century's restrictive social policies and poor economic conditions relegated African Americans in St. Louis, Mo. to high poverty neighborhoods, parents were forced to enroll their children in substandard segregated schools. Meanwhile the African American population increased in size from 108,765 (11.4 percent) in 1940 to 153,766 (17.9 percent) in 1950 to 214,377 (28.6 percent) in 1960 and beyond (United States Census Bureau 2018). Though St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) desegregated its schools after the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision, the existing African Americans' neighborhoods continued to dictate where children attended school. Therefore in St. Louis, housing and education shared an inextricable connection because of the use of the neighborhood borders as school boundaries. During the early and mid-twentieth century, segregated education and housing were two major injustices endured by African Americans in St. Louis. However, two African American women, Ruth Harris and Ruth Porter, were instrumental in easing these prejudices through community engagement. This biographical narrative provides a glimpse into the lives of these women's attempt to improve the education and housing of marginalized African Americans during the Jim Crow era and into the Civil Rights Movement in St. Louis.