Ruby Pickens Tartt (January 13, 1880 - September 29, 1974) was an American folklorist, writer, and painter who is known for her work helping to preserve Southern black culture by collecting the life histories, stories, lore, and songs of former slaves for the Works Progress Administration and the Library of Congress.

She developed her own style based on Chase's method of painting directly onto unprepared canvas without any preliminary drawing.

Tartt later taught art in her hometown,[2] and some of her portraits, still lifes, and landscapes hang in Alabama public buildings.

Her activities drew the attention of ethnomusicologist John Lomax, who was then recording songs for the Library of Congress (LOC).

Tartt also worked with folklorist Ellie Seigmeister and with University of Alabama music professor Byron Arnold gathering material for his collection entitled Folksongs of Alabama, and she provided some material for poet Carl Sandburg's 1950 anthology New American Songbag.

He credited Tartt with providing a considerable amount of local material like songs and customs for his 1934 book Stars Fell on Alabama.

[2] Tartt received some royalties from a few recordings based on her discoveries, notably from The Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte, but not enough to make her financially independent.