Draft:Emily Ruth Black

Emily Ruth Black (born October 19, 1957) is the first wife of American politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Early life and education
Black was born in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, on October 15, 1957. Her father, Thomas Allen Black, died when Black was two years old. Her mother, Helen Elizabeth Black (née Armstrong), a schoolteacher, later remarried to Robert Pawley.

When her stepfather was transferred to Missouri for work, Black stayed with her aunt, Helen Duncan, to continue attending high school in Bloomington and later attend Indiana University.

Black was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She then attended and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virgina School of Law.

Marriage and children
It was at law school that Black first met Robert F. Kennedy. Black and Kennedy, 24 and 27 respectively, wed on Saturday, April 3, 1982, in Black's hometown where a combined Protestant-Roman Catholic ceremony was held and conducted at First Christian Church where Black was baptized. They had a honeymoon in the Caribbean for less than a week before Kennedy had to return back to finish law school.

They had two children: Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy III (b. 1984) and Kathleen Alexandra "Kick" Kennedy (b.1988). Kennedy and Black separated in 1992 and divorced in 1994.