Ruth Elizabeth Bacon (1908 – 1985) was an American foreign service officer, a Far East specialist. She was one of the first six annual recipients of the Federal Woman's Award, in 1961. In 1968, she retired as director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Early life and education

Bacon was the daughter of George Preston Bacon and Hannah Churchill Bacon. Her mother trained as a nurse; her father was a physics and engineering professor at

Tufts College Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. Her sister Dorothy Carolin Bacon was an economics professor on the faculty at Smith College. Ruth E. Bacon earned a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. at Radcliffe College. She was a Carnegie Fellow in international law at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

from 1928 to 1929.

Career

Ruth E. Bacon taught history and political science at Wellesley College and Central Missouri State University after completing her doctoral studies. She worked at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, as assistant to Judge

Manley Ottmer Hudson Manley Ottmer Hudson (May 19, 1886 – April 13, 1960) was a U.S. lawyer, specializing in public international law. He was a judge at the Permanent Court of International Justice, a member of the International Law Commission, and a mediator ...

while he served on the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

. She joined the U. S. State Department in 1939, in the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs; she was described as "the first female officer in a geographical bureau". She was an active member of the

American Society of International Law The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...

, including a stint on the executive council of the society, from 1951 to 1952. In 1948 Bacon was a member of the American delegation at the South Pacific Commission in Sydney; she also served on the American delegation to the United Nations Trusteeship Council in 1949. She was Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

for four years, and served at times as acting ambassador. In 1960, she was Foreign Service Officer Class 1, the second-highest ranking woman in the Foreign Service. In 1968, as director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, she was the only woman in the American delegation led by

Dean Rusk David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the F ...

at the

SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philipp ...

meeting, in Wellington. She said the biggest thing she lacked as a diplomat was "a wife. I had to carry a double load... write the thank-you notes, send flowers, plan guest lists and all the other things usually handled by the hostess." In 1961, Bacon became one of the first six recipients of the

Federal Woman's Award The Federal Woman's Award, also known as the Federal Women's Award, was given by the United States Civil Service Commission from 1961 until 1976. The Federal Woman's Award was established by Barbara Bates Gunderson in 1960, while she was serving on ...

, "in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the formulation of United States foreign policy in the field of Far Eastern affairs." Her sister accepted the award in her place. She retired from the federal government in 1968. In 1974 she served on the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

, attended the World Conference on Women in 1975 in Mexico City, and was director of the US Center for

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. Histo ...

from 1973 to 1976. She went on lecture tour in Africa in 1974, sponsored by the State Department, and visited South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. In 1977 she was a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, lecturing at colleges from Vermont and Virginia to Hawaii.

Publications

Publications by Bacon included "Representation in the International Commission of the Danube" (1937, ''The American Journal of International Law''), ''International Legislation'' (1937, co-edited with Manley O. Hudson), and ''World Court Reports: A Collection of the Judgments, Orders and Opinions of the Permanent Court of International Justice. Volume III, 1932-1935'' (1938, co-edited with Manley O. Hudson).Hudson, Manley O., and Ruth E. Bacon, eds., ''World Court Reports: A Collection of the Judgments, Orders and Opinions of the Permanent Court of International Justice. Volume III, 1932-1935'' (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1938).

Personal life

Ruth E. Bacon died in 1985, aged 77 years. Her grave is in Shawsheen Cemetery in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...

, with those of many other Bacons, for several generations.

References

External links

"Memorandum by Miss Ruth E. Bacon of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs to the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Sprouse)"
(April 12, 1949), in the Office of the Historian, Department of State. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Ruth E. 1908 births 1985 deaths Radcliffe College alumni Wellesley College faculty American diplomats American expatriates in the Netherlands American expatriates in New Zealand Burials at Shawsheen Cemetery