Uncrowned Community Builders

Ivorite Larimer Scruggs was born on August 4, 1890 in the state of Mississippi. His parents were James and Kayte Scruggs.

Dr. Scruggs received both his BA Degree in 1915 and his medical degree four years later, from Howard University. He was a charter member and the first national vice president of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, which he helped organize at Howard. Scruggs secured the first Fraternity House in the summer of 1914. The three story brick house was the largest of any of the Howard University chapter houses. He also is credited with writing the lyrics of the Fraternity's hymn in 1914. From 1917 to 1919, he was the Fraternity's International President.

Dr. Scruggs moved to Buffalo with his wife, the former Ruth Tappe in 1921. Dr. Scruggs established his private practice at 473 Jefferson Avenue and remained in practice from 1924 until his retirement in 1969. He also was on the medical staffs of Sisters, Columbus and Our Lady of Victory Hospitals. He was the first black school physician in 1924 and held that post until 1945.

From his earliest days in Buffalo, Dr. Scruggs was a community leader. He was a founder of the Michigan Avenue YMCA in 1923 and was the first black, in the United States, to be elected to the board of directors of a Metropolitan YMCA. He also was a founding member of the Buffalo Urban League in 1927. He served as the president of the annual Negro Health Week Observance for 19 years and was a director of the Erie County Unit of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Scruggs was also a member of the Erie County Medical Society, Medical Society of the State of New York, American Medical Association, the Upstate Medical Alliance and the National Medical Association. In 1945, he chaired the Negro Health Week Committee which arranged for mass x-ray screening for TB.

In 1929 Dr. Scruggs purchased the largest piece of real estate owned by blacks in Buffalo when he and his wife bought a three story apartment building, located at Peckham Street and Jefferson Avenue, from the Lakefront Realty Company. He was the first black named to the city's Board of Redevelopment in 1959 and was a leader in the fight against poor housing.

In 1927, he was one of the founders of Bigger and Better Negro Business Week, which was established "to promote fellowship among Negro business institutions, increase patronage on the part of the Negro buying public in Negro business enterprises and to instill the principles of thrift in Negro children." In 1952, he acted as the chief of staff for a parade that highlighted Better Business and Trade Week.

He was the recipient of Buffalo's Good Neighbor Award in 1961 and honored for service to the community and medicine by the Upstate Medical Alliance, in 1970. He also was a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

Dr. Scruggs died on April 6, 1974 at the age of 83. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.