Thomas Ruffin
Thomas Ruffin was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on November 25, 1925. He graduated from LSU with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1947. When he passed away in 2009, he was the Retired Vice President of Smith Barney, Inc. and had formerly served as the president of Ruffin Brick Company and Ruffin Transport, Inc. Ruffin was a U.S. Navy World War II veteran who served in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific, and did post-war service in China. He received the Preservation Award given by the Foundation of Historic Louisiana and the L.M. Moffitt Award. Ruffin published Under Stately Oaks: A Pictorial History of LSU and approximately seventy-five articles on the history of the Ark-La-Tex area.
Ruffin’s interview is housed in the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History at LSU Libraries Special Collections. Ruffin, Thomas, interview by Jennifer Abraham, audio recording, 2001, 4700.1364. Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.