Othella Ross Vaughn, historian, lifelong learner

Othella Ross Vaughn, 93, a retired Philadelphia Department of Recreation supervisor who had a passion for education, African American history, and the theater, died Sunday, June 4, at Saunders House, an assisted living home in Wynnewood.

Ms. Vaughn had been hospitalized with pneumonia at Lankenau Medical Center. She was released to the adjacent Saunders House, where she had been living since 2015, said her daughter, Regina.

"She was a very loving woman, a God-fearing woman who raised me in the church and made sure I went to the best schools and attended cultural events," her daughter said.

Ms. Vaughn was a firm believer in education and often told people that it was "never too late" to continue it, said her granddaughter, Sharifa Atkins. Ms. Vaughn lived her philosophy as well.

Although she began her college education at Temple University in 1947, she withdrew for family and financial reasons. But she continued to re-enroll at Temple over five decades, finally graduating in 1993 at age 69 with a degree in sociology.

She graduated three days before her granddaughter graduated from the University of Virginia.

"Education was very important to Mom," Regina Vaughn said. "She was a determined woman and went back to school every decade until she finished."

Ms. Vaughn was born in March 1924 in Philadelphia to James and Nora Bessie "Azalee" Glenn Ross. She spent her childhood in South Philadelphia, where she was close to her only sibling, her late younger brother, Walter Robert Ross.

She attended William Penn High School before starting her journey toward a college degree. She had a brief marriage to Junious Vaughn that ended in divorce. For much of her adult life, she lived in Southwest Philadelphia.

Regina Vaughn said her mother developed passions for African American history and theater.

"She really believed in the quote about Sankofa, which means 'you must know the past to move forward in the future,'" her daughter said.

She worked as a drama coach at Taylor Memorial Baptist Church, Vine Memorial Baptist Church, and her former senior apartment building, Riverside Presbyterian Towers.

At Taylor, she was lovingly known as "Cecil B.," after the filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, because of her work directing and performing.

Regina Vaughn said she wondered if her mother developed a love for theater because an uncle had named her after Shakespeare's character Othello.

Her interest in history developed due to the influence of Edyth Ingraham, a principal at Elverson Elementary School, who also had a radio show that promoted understanding of African American history.

Ms. Vaughn became a lifetime member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. She lectured at the National Convention of ASALAH on the topic "A Layman Looks at Genealogy," and she was a volunteer at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, her granddaughter said.

She researched her family's history, and in 1986 self-published Sankofa:  A History of the Tribble Family (1826-1986). The book traces the first four generations of the Floyd and Tribble families in South Carolina. She later traced her female ancestry through DNA testing to the Masa people of Cameroon. She also self-published Sweet, Sweet Spirit, a book about her mother.

In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, Ms. Vaughn is survived by a great-grandson, a niece, and two nephews.

A celebration of life was held Monday, June 12, at Vine Memorial Baptist Church.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Othella Vaughn Award Fund at Temple University, College of Liberal Arts, Office of the Dean, 12^th Floor, c/o Alumni Affairs, 1114 W. Berks St., Philadelphia 19122.