Ruby Margaret Rouss was born on 3 December 1921[1] in Christiansted[2] on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands[1] to William and Emmeline Rouse.

[6] After completing high school in New York,[2] on 23 January 1943,[9] Rouss joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC), as its first Virgin Islander.

She became a member of the drill team at Fort Dix, New Jersey,[7] and was assigned as the first black woman to General Eisenhower’s staff during World War II.

[10] When the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) was organized in 1951,[11] Rouss was the first black woman permanently assigned to it.

[12] In 1968, Rouss was the Virgin Island's delegate to the Democratic Convention held in Chicago and served as one of the five black women on the Rules Committee.

[14] In the 1972 election, Rouss finally succeeded in winning a Senate seat in the 10th legislature,[12] becoming one of the first woman Legislators in the Virgin Islands.

[12] She opened her term in the 13th legislature by sponsoring a bill to provide financial assistance for tuition or services to parents or guardians of special needs children, if there were no help facilities on their home island.

In these capacities, she worked to secure the jobs of mental health workers, investigate unsafe prison conditions, and provide public services for poverty stricken constituents.