Ruth Pickering Pinchot (born Ruth Pickering; 1893–1984) was an American writer, critic, and activist.

Early life

Ruth Pickering was born in 1893 in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...

. She was born to a family of Quakers who ran a small company, Peerless Dyes. Ruth graduated from Vassar College in 1914. Upon graduation, she moved to Greenwich Village, New York, where she lived in a communal house with

Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, as a co-founder and co-editor with ...

, and several other writers, artists, and thinkers.

Career and activism

Ruth contributed to primarily left leaning publications such as '' The Masses'', '' The Nation'' and '' The New Republic''. As a writer for ''The Nation'', Ruth authored an essay reflecting on the development of her own views of feminism as part of a series called "These Modern Women," which published over 1926 and 1927. She was an advocate of

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. Early in her career, Ruth frequently wrote about the labor movement. Along with her husband Amos she became involved with the political group the Committee of 48. By the late 1920s, Ruth became an art and dance critic, leaving behind many of the topics covered earlier in her career. Although Ruth was known as a left-leaning writer early in her career, her politics began to shift to the right in 1930s. Her objections to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

programs solidified her rightward shift. Pinchot and her husband began to embrace the isolationist group America First.

Personal life

In August 1919, Ruth married Amos Pinchot. Amos had been a frequent visitor of the communal house which Ruth shared with other writers. With Amos Pinchot she had two daughters, Antoinette Pinchot Bradlee (1924–2011) and

Mary Pinchot Meyer Mary Eno Pinchot Meyer (; October 14, 1920 – October 12, 1964) was an American painter who lived in Washington D.C. She was married to Central Intelligence Agency official Cord Meyer from 1945–1958, and became involved romantically with P ...

. Amos, Ruth, and Gifford and Cornelia Pinchot donated the former Pinchot family home to Milford, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1924. The donated home was turned into a local branch of the Pike County Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering Pinchot, Ruth 20th-century American women writers American women journalists Writers from Elmira, New York Journalists from New York (state) Vassar College alumni 1893 births 1984 deaths Activists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists Pinchot family