Ruth E. Carter

Ruth E. Carter is an African-American costume designer. She is best known for her work on the films Malcolm X and Amistad, for each of which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. She received a career achievement award from the American Black Film Festival in 2002. Carter graduated from Hampton University, and then interned in her hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and at the Santa Fe Opera. Working at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, she met Spike Lee, who hired her for his second film, School Daze, and with whom she worked on a number of films thereafter.