Ruth Pickering Pinchot (born Ruth Pickering; 1893–1984) was an American writer, critic, and activist.[1]
Ruth Pickering Pinchot | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ruth Pickering June 20, 1893 Elmira, New York |
| Died | December 24, 1984 (aged 91) New York City |
| Occupation | writer |
| Alma mater | Vassar College |
| Spouse | Amos Pinchot |
| Children | Mary Pinchot Meyer, Antoinette Pinchot Bradlee |
Early life
editRuth Pickering was born in 1893 in Elmira, New York.[2] 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, and several other writers, artists, and thinkers.[3]
Career and activism
editRuth contributed to primarily left leaning publications such as The Masses, The Nation and The New Republic.[1] 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 and a suffragette. Early in her career, Ruth frequently wrote about the labor movement.[4] Along with her husband Amos she became involved with the political group the Committee of 48.[5] By the late 1920s, Ruth became an art and dance critic, leaving behind many of the topics covered earlier in her career.[4]
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 programs solidified her rightward shift. Pinchot and her husband began to embrace the isolationist group America First.[6]
Personal life
editIn August 1919, Ruth married Amos Pinchot.[3] Amos had been a frequent visitor of the communal house which Ruth shared with other writers.[2] With Amos Pinchot she had two daughters, Antoinette Pinchot Bradlee (1924–2011) and Mary Pinchot Meyer.[1][6]
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.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c Bernstein, Adam. "Obituaries". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ a b Pinchot, Nancy Pittman. "Amos Pinchot: Rebel Prince". Pennsylvania History: 166–198. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Writer Weds Amos Pinchot". Fourth Estate. 16 August 1919. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ a b Burleigh, Nina (2009). A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0307574176. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ Cott, Nancy F. (1987). The Grounding of Modern Feminism. Yale University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0300042280. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ a b Miller, Char (22 September 2013). Seeking the Greatest Good: The Conservation Legacy of Gifford Pinchot. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0822979210. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ Harris, Francis Ruth (12 June 2015). "Expert in historic buildings to restore old library". The Pike County Courier. Retrieved 25 March 2016.