Ruth Hale

Who was Ruth Hale?

Ruth Hale was a freelance writer who worked for women's rights in New York City, USA, during the era before and after World War I. She was married to journalist Heywood Broun and was an associate of the Algonquin Round Table.

Hale was a founder of the Lucy Stone League, an organization whose motto was "My name is the symbol for my identity and must not be lost." A biographer termed Hale "nearly fanatical" about women’s rights, who attacked "head-on and without humor, except for mordant satire." Hale's cause led her to fight for women to be able to legally preserve their maiden name after marriage. She challenged in the courts any government edict that would not recognize a married woman by the name she chose to use.