[1] As a member of the Black Experimental Theater (Teatro Experimental do Negro, TEN), she is one of the first Black actresses in dramatic theater in Brazil and one of the first to perform at the Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro.

She died in Rio de Janeiro in the neighbourhood of Copacabana in July 2019 at the age of 98.

[4] Ruth de Souza was portrayed by Eli Ferreira in the 2024 Brazilian telenovela Garota do Momento.

[5] In 2019 the Black Community Council, managed by the government of the São Paulo state, gave awards to prominent figures of the state's black community in honor of Ruth de Souza.

Paula Beatriz, the first transgender woman to direct a state school, was among the laureates.