The Lucy Stone League is a

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

organization founded in 1921. Its motto is "A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost."“lucystoneleague.org�
Archived
from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2021-03-29. (edited) It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.Stannard 1977, the entire Ch. 15 = "The Lucy Stone League" = pp. 188-218. It was among the first

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article. LucyStone-sig

The group took its name from Lucy Stone (1818–1893), the first married woman in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to carry her ''birth name'' through life (she married in 1855). The ''New York Times'' called the group the "Maiden Namers". They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the

Hotel Pennsylvania The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921. The founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and critic. The wife of ''New York World'' columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman (such as herself) by the name she chose to use. The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat. The League became so well known that a new term, Lucy Stoner, came into common use, meaning anyone who advocates that a wife be allowed to keep and use her own name. This term was eventually included in dictionaries.Stannard 1977, p. 193. Women who choose not to use their husbands' surnames have also been called Lucy Stoners.

Members

The group was open to women and men. Some early members were, in alphabetical order: *

Franklin Pierce Adams Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960) was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F.P.A.. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances a ...

, columnist * Heywood Broun, columnist *

Janet Flanner Janet Flanner (March 13, 1892 – November 7, 1978) was an American writer and pioneering narrative journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975.Yagoda, Ben ''About T ...

, Paris correspondent for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' *

Zona Gale Zona Gale, also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close r ...

, Wisconsin-based author and playwright, first woman to win the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for drama, and political-campaigner for women's rights *

Jane Grant Jane Grant (May 29, 1892 – March 16, 1972) was a New York City journalist who co-founded ''The New Yorker'' with her first husband, Harold Ross. Life and career Jane Grant was born Jeanette Cole Grant in Joplin, Missouri, and grew up and w ...

, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reporter, wife of

Harold Ross Harold Wallace Ross (November 6, 1892 – December 6, 1951) was an American journalist who co-founded ''The New Yorker'' magazine in 1925 with his wife Jane Grant, and was its editor-in-chief until his death. Early life Born in a prospector' ...

(founder of ''

''), and cofounder of ''The New Yorker'' * Ruth Hale, journalist and publicist *

Fannie Hurst Fannie Hurst (October 18, 1889 – February 23, 1968) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works were highly popular during the post-World War I era. Her work combined sentimental, romantic themes with social issues of the d ...

, author * Beulah Livingstone, silent movie publicist *

Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...

, playwright-author *

Neysa McMein Neysa Moran McMein (born Marjorie Frances McMein; January 24, 1888 – May 12, 1949) was an American illustrator and portrait painter who studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York. She began her ca ...

, illustrator *

Solita Solano Solita Solano (October 30, 1888 – November 22, 1975), born Sarah Wilkinson, was an American writer, poet and journalist. Biography Early life Sarah Wilkinson came from a middle-class family and attended the Emma Willard School in Troy, Ne ...

, drama critic, editor, and writer *

Sophie Treadwell Sophie Anita Treadwell (October 3, 1885 – February 20, 1970) was an American playwright and journalist of the first half of the 20th century. She is best known for her play ''Machinal'' which is often included in drama anthologies as an examp ...

, playwright, journalist Some of the members often attended the Algonquin Round Table. Since many League members wrote for a living, they could and did write frequently about the group in New York City newspapers. There were many well-known women who were ''Lucy Stoners'' and kept their names after marriage but were ''not'' known to be League members, such as (listed alphabetically)

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

(dancer),

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

(aviation celebrity),

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...

(anthropologist),

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

(poet),

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

(artist), Frances Perkins (first woman appointed to any U.S. cabinet), and

Michael Strange Blanche Marie Louise Oelrichs (October 1, 1890 – November 5, 1950) was an American poet, playwright and theatre actress. Oelrichs first used the masculine pen name Michael Strange to publish her poetry in order to distance her society reput ...

(poet, playwright, actress) – aka

Blanche Oelrichs Blanche Marie Louise Oelrichs (October 1, 1890 – November 5, 1950) was an American poet, playwright and theatre actress. Oelrichs first used the masculine pen name Michael Strange to publish her poetry in order to distance her society reputat ...

– aka the wife of actor

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

First historical period

The founding of the League was presented above, in the introduction. Ruth Hale's first battle (begun in 1920) with the government was to get a passport issued to her by the U.S. State Department in her own name – just as for any man. Victory was attained five years later in 1925, by the League, when the first married woman in the United States to receive a passport in her own name was

Doris Fleischman Doris Elsa Fleischman Bernays (July 18, 1891 – July 10, 1980), was an American writer, public relations executive, and feminist activist.Cook, Joan (July 12, 1980)Doris Fleischman Bernays Dead; Pioneer Public Relations Counsel.''The New York Tim ...

, the wife of

Edward L. Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known c ...

. An earlier victory for the group came in May 1921 when Hale got a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

deed issued in her birth name rather than Mrs. Heywood Broun. When the time came to transfer the title of the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

apartment building, Hale refused to go on record as Mrs. Heywood Broun; the papers were changed to Ruth Hale. The League pioneered and fought for other married women's rights, in the 1920s U.S., to do each of the following in their own names: to register at a hotel,Stannard 1977, p. 191. to have bank accounts and sign checks, to have a telephone account or a store account or an insurance policy or a library card, to register (to vote) and to vote, to get a copyright, and to receive paychecks. These rights may be taken for granted today, but the legal right of a married woman in the U.S. to use her own name (rather than her husband's name) was denied by many officials and courts until a 9 Oct 1972 court decision, as documented in the 1977 boo
''Mrs Man''
by Una Stannard. In its first incarnation the League was short lived. The group's lawyer, Rose Bres, died in 1927; by 1931 Ruth Hale, who believed that a woman is "through after forty," became depressed and then died in 1934. By the early 1930s the Lucy Stone League was inactive.

Second historical period

The League was restarted in 1950 by

, plus twenty two former members, its first meeting being on 22 Mar 1950 in New York City. Grant promptly won the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States, U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the Americans, Ame ...

's agreement that a married woman could use her maiden

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

as her official or real name in the census. But the "legal stone wall" that U.S. women ran into with many officials and even in the courts persisted until the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

passed the Equal Rights Amendment on 22 Mar 1972 (never ratified by the U.S.). This 22 Mar 1972 event, plus the researching of and documentation of past legal cases by women lawyers, led to the above-mentioned 9 Oct 1972 court decision. So in the 1950s and 1960s period, prior to 1972, the "new" League had to change its approach – it widened its focus to include all discrimination against women in the U.S.; the League became a proto –

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(''NOW''). In 1976 the Lucy Stone League joined the International Alliance of Women - Equal Rights - Equal Responsibilities (IAW) as an Associate Member at the XXIV Congress "Action for Equality" which it hosted along with the Federation of Organizations for Professional Women in New York. The reborn League operated as a non-political and non-partisan center of research and information on the status of women. It sponsored college scholarships and set up feminist libraries in high schools. It worked for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in legal, economic, educational, and social relationships.http://lucystoneleague.org/history.html The League's official history. To access it from the League's homepage: First click on the tab "Who are we?", and then on ''its'' button "LSL History". As of the early 1990s the Lucy Stone League "still gave nursing scholarships and hosted a combination annual meeting and strawberry festival" – though the ''gender equality'' issues listed in the previous paragraph had been largely taken over by the

(since 1966) and other women's groups.

Third historical period

A modern version of the League was started in 1997, as follows: By 1997 the activities of the League had ceased and a report was published that "Alas, the League is no more." When he read this report, Morrison Bonpasse (1947–2019), a past president of the League, was "inspired" to restart the League, at the same time shifting the focus back to name equality – which was/is not addressed by ''NOW''. This restart eventually became "the re-launching of the website (lucystoneleague.org) under the direction of a new board and its current president Ms. Cristina Lucia Stasia". In addition, there was a group of women in New York who were still active under the name "Lucy Stone League" and this group was a dues paying affiliate of the

International Alliance of Women The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...

, between 1976 and 2021. It hosted the XXXII IAW Triennial Congress in New York City in 1999.IAW, Centenary 1904-2004. https://womenalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/IAW-Centenary-Edition-1904-2004-webversion.pdf

References

General literature

, ''Confession of a Feminist'', in ''

The American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'', vol. LVII, no. 240, Dec., 1943 (microfilm), pp. 684–691. This article gives more background on the formation of the League.

External links

* {{Authority control Feminist organizations in the United States History of women's rights in the United States Organizations established in 1921 1921 establishments in New York City Women in New York City