{{short description|American politician (1853–1958)}} {{Infobox Latter Day Saint biography | name = Ruth May Fox | image = Ruth May Fox.jpg | image_size = | alt = Photo of Ruth May Fox | caption = Fox in 1936 | birth_name = Ruth May | birth_date = {{Birth date|1853|11|16|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Westbury, Wiltshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1958|04|12|1853|11|16|mf=yes}} | death_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | resting_place = Salt Lake City Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|40.777|-111.858|type:landmark|display=inline|name=Salt Lake City Cemetery}} | spouse = Jesse William Fox | children = 12 | position_or_quorum1 = 3rd general president of the Young Women | called_by1 = Heber J. Grant | ordination_reason1 = | predecessor1 = Martha H. Tingey | successor1 = Lucy Grant Cannon | start_date1 = 1929<!-- {{start date|yyyy|mm|dd|mf=yes}} --> | end_date1 = 1937<!-- {{end date|yyyy|mm|dd|mf=yes}} --> | end_reason1 = | reorganization1 = | position_or_quorum2 = First Counselor in the general presidency of the Young Women | called_by2 = Martha H. Tingey | ordination_reason2 = | predecessor2 = Maria Young Dougall | successor2 = Lucy Grant Cannon | start_date2 = 1905 | end_date2 = 1929}}
'''Ruth Fox''' ({{nee}} '''May'''; November 16, 1853 – April 12, 1958) was a 19th-century English-born American women's rights activist in the Territory of Utah. Fox was a poet, hymn writer, and a leader of youth in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
==Early life== Ruth May was born in Westbury, Wiltshire, England to James May and Mary Ann ({{nee}} Harding) May.<ref name=LDSbio>{{cite book|last=Jenson|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Jenson|title=Latter-day Saint biographical encyclopedia: A compilation of biographical sketches of prominent men and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints|volume=4|year=1936|publisher=The Andrew Jenson Memorial Association|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=259|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/BYUIBooks/id/6025/rec/2}}</ref> Her father worked in a mine and a factory. Though they were not educated, May's parents were religious. They converted to Mormonism when May was five months old. May's mother then died in childbirth when she was 16 months old.<ref name="Arrington" /> May was sent to live with various relatives and Mormon families while her father was a traveling missionary.<ref name="ensign" /> Before her eighth birthday, she had lived in seven different households.<ref name="Arrington" /> Lacking parental consistency, May often misbehaved as a child. At one point she accidentally set her hair on fire, and another time she stepped in front of an oncoming train.<ref name="ensign" />
At age eight, May moved with her father to Yorkshire to live a boarding house run by Mary Saxton.<ref name="women of character">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Susan Easton|author2=Woodger, Mary Jane|title=Women of Character|date=2011|publisher=Covenant Communications|location=American Fork, Utah|isbn=9781680470185|pages=105–07}}</ref> Saxton had a daughter May's age named Clara, and the two became friends. As an older child, May enjoyed reciting poetry and telling stories and working alongside Clara Saxton. After her father refused to give her permission to work in a factory, May assisted the Saxtons in performing various chores around the boarding house.<ref name="Arrington">{{cite journal|last1=Arrington|first1=Leonard|title=Mormon Women in Nineteenth-Century Britain|journal=BYU Studies Quarterly|date=1987|volume=27|issue=1|pages=74–77|url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/mormon-women-nineteenth-century-britain|access-date=June 6, 2016}}</ref>
In 1865, James May emigrated to the United States and shortly thereafter sent for Ruth, Mrs. Saxton, and Clara. On their arrival in Philadelphia, James May married Mrs. Saxton, and he and the two girls found work in a textile mill to save money to go to Utah Territory.<ref name="eom">{{Citation |editor-last= Ludlow |editor-first= Daniel H |editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |author-last=Thatcher |author-first=Linda |pages=524–525 |year= 1992 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location= New York |publisher= Macmillan Publishing |isbn= 0-02-879602-0 |oclc= 24502140 |url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/3709 }}</ref> In 1867 the May family traveled by covered wagon and on foot to Salt Lake City with Leonard Rice's company.<ref name="LDSbio"/> She chiseled her name into Independence Rock in Wyoming during the journey.<ref name="ensign" /> The Mays arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in August 1867.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Nash|first=Brittany Chapman|title=Ruth May Fox, Equal Rights Proponent and Poet|url=https://www.utahwomenshistory.org/bios/ruth-may-fox/|access-date=2021-06-28|website=Better Days Curriculum}}</ref> After settling in the Ogden area, Ruth attended John Morgan's College in Salt Lake City for four months.<ref name="eom"/> When her father bought a mill in Salt Lake City, Ruth worked for him operating equipment usually run by men. She felt that she should be paid a man's wages for the job; she was paid a lower wage as a woman.<ref name="women of character"/>
==Family== On May 8, 1873, Ruth May married Jesse W. Fox, Jr., a civil engineer,<ref name="honored"/> in the Endowment House.<ref name="ensign" /> She was nineteen years old.<ref name="eom" /> In 1888, Jesse Fox married Rosemary Johnson as a plural wife without Ruth's permission, although for most of his life, Jesse resided with Ruth.<ref name="Chapman">{{cite book|last1=Chapman|first1=Brittany|editor1-last=Turley|editor1-first=Richard|editor2-last=Chapman|editor2-first=Brittany|title="Sow Seeds of Faith": Ruth May Fox (1853–1958)|date=2014|publisher=Deseret Book|isbn=9781609075880|pages=43–56|volume=3}}</ref> He worked as a surveyor, and the family enjoyed financial security.<ref name=":0" /> Fox eventually became the mother of twelve children:<ref name="eom"/> six girls and six boys.<ref name="ensign" />
In the Panic of 1893, Jesse Fox lost his dry goods business and the family home, but not their farm.<ref name="ensign"/><ref name="women of character"/> After this period of financial difficulty, Jesse moved to live with his other wife, and Fox was on her own to provide for her children. In 1900, she managed the Saint Omer Boarding house. In 1914, she worked as a typist for the LDS church's Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA).<ref name="eom"/> During her time as a typist, her father's health was declining, and Ruth rented a home for her and her father near the YLMIA offices. Her husband then died in 1928.<ref name="ensign">{{cite news|last1=Peterson|first1=Janet|title=Carry On! Carry On!|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2004/08/carry-on-carry-on?lang=eng|access-date=May 25, 2016|work=Ensign|issue=August 2004|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints}}</ref> She also lived with her children and worked as a housekeeper during this time.<ref name="eom" />
In 1953, she had over 200 direct descendants.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bible Preoccupies Salt Laker at 97|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/10309451/|access-date=6 June 2016|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=12 November 1950|via=newspapers.com}} {{closed access}}</ref>
==Women's suffrage and civil service== Fox continued her education through observation and personal study. She composed poetry, which first appeared in print in 1891, at which time she joined the Press Club, a women's literary organization.<ref name="ensign"/> She later became president of the Utah Woman's Press Club.<ref name="eom" /> She was a member of Emmeline B. Wells's Reapers Club, which encouraged the social and intellectual development of women. Fox considered herself a disciple of Wells, who inspired Fox to become more active in the women's suffrage movement. She served alongside Wells in the Utah Territorial Women's Suffrage Association, established in 1893.<ref name="ensign"/>
Fox actively promoted the women's suffrage movement in Utah and did so largely as an organizer of Republican Party in Utah.<ref name="Arrington"/> She was president of the Utah Woman's Press Club, chair of the Second Precinct Ladies' Republican Club, treasurer of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, and was a member of the Salt Lake County Republican Committee and the Traveler's Aid Society.<ref name="eom"/><ref name="Utah history">{{cite web|last1=Thatcher|first1=Linda|title=Ruth May Fox, Forgotten Suffragist|url=http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehood_and_the_progressive_era/ruthmayfoxforgottensuffragist.html|website=Utah History to Go|publisher=Utah.gov|access-date=May 25, 2016}}</ref> Fox and Emmeline B. Wells met with Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw when they visited Salt Lake City on May 12, 1895.<ref name="Utah history" />
In the late 19th century she worked for the inclusion of woman suffrage in the Utah state constitution and helped draft the suffrage memorial presented and accepted by the 1895 Utah constitutional convention.<ref name="Utah history"/> She created petitions for this effort. Her work resulted in success; the U.S. congress passed Utah's new constitution, granting women in the state the right to vote.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-09-20|title=Winning Back the Vote: Ruth May Fox|url=https://www.betterdays2020.com/blog/2017/9/20/congress-took-away-utah-womens-voting-rights-in-1887-but-utah-suffragists-like-ruth-may-fox-won-them-back|access-date=2021-06-28|website=Better Days}}</ref> Fox also published a few poems in newspapers.<ref name=":0" />
Heber Manning Wells, the first governor of Utah, appointed Fox as a director of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, a position which she held for eight years. During this time, she helped invigorate the Utah State fair.<ref name="honored"/> She was active in serving for the American Red Cross in Utah. She served on the executive board. During the influenza epidemic of 1917 she served as a volunteer nurse to the sick.<ref name="honored">{{cite news|title=Honored by Clubs: A Biography of Mrs. Ruth May Fox|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/12189961/?terms=Ruth%2BMay%2BFox|access-date=May 9, 2016|work=Salt Lake Tribune|date=18 Mar 1934|page=62}} {{closed access}}</ref> During World War I, she served as lieutenant of canteens in Salt Lake City.<ref name="honored"/>
==Church leadership== In 1905, Fox was asked to be the first counselor to Martha Horne Tingey in the general presidency of the YLMIA.<ref name="eom"/> In 1923 the YLMIA general board published a volume of Fox's poetry under the title ''May Blossoms.'' Fox served as first counselor in the YLMIA until 1929, when she became the third general president of the YLMIA under church president Heber J. Grant at the age of 75. She expressed concern over serving in this capacity at her age, but Grant assured her in a blessing that she would have "the same vigor of body and of mind" as when she was young.<ref name="ensign"/>
During Fox's tenure as president, a number of changes to the young women's program occurred. In 1934, the name of the young women's program changed to the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association (YWMIA). Twelve and thirteen-year-old girls became beehives in the YWMIA instead of Mi-Kan-Wees in Primary. They could purchase a uniform similar to the Boy Scout uniform.<ref name="ensign"/> She changed the Lion House into a "home for girls" for them to socialize and attend classes in religion and writing; some 50 out-of-town young women lived there.<ref name="ensign"/><ref name="honored"/> Fox sponsored a Traveling Library Program.<ref name="eom"/> As part of her duties as leader of the YLMIA, Fox visited and taught women all over the world in their local wards. She visited Hawaii, Europe,<ref name="Chapman"/> Canada, and Mexico.<ref name="ensign" />
In 1930, Fox wrote the hymn "Carry On" for the centennial celebration of the church.<ref name="women of character"/> The song provided a boost in morale for the young people in the church at the outset of the Great Depression.<ref name="ensign" /> In 1995, "Carry On" was adopted by Gordon B. Hinckley as the theme of his tenure as President of the Church.<ref>Jeffrey R. Holland, [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1995/06/president-gordon-b-hinckley-stalwart-and-brave-he-stands?lang=eng "President Gordon B. Hinckley: Stalwart and Brave He Stands,"] ''Ensign'', June 1995, pp. 2–3.</ref>
Fox served until 1937,<ref name="Timeline of YW presidents">{{cite web|title=Timeline of Young Women General Presidents|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/timeline?lang=eng|website=Young Women|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|access-date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> when she was succeeded by her own first counselor, Lucy Grant Cannon.<ref name="Timeline of YW presidents"/><ref name="mormon YW leaders">{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Keith L.|title=Mormon Young Women Leader: Ruth May Fox|url=http://historyofmormonism.com/2012/05/29/mormon-women-leader-ruth-may-fox|website=History of Mormonism|publisher=Mormon History|access-date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> She was almost 84 years old.<ref name="ensign" /> She had served on the general board of the YWMIA for 39 years.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Lloyd|first=R. Scott|date=2010-10-18|title=From 'plain' to plane: the travels of Ruth May Fox, Mormon young women leader|work=Church News|url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2010-10-18/from-plain-to-plane-the-travels-of-ruth-may-fox-mormon-young-women-leader-61646|access-date=2021-06-28}}</ref>
==Later life, death, and legacy== Fox's 85th, 90th, 95th, and 100th birthday parties were held in the Beehive House. Members of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, as well as city and state leaders attended.<ref name="ensign"/> She was 103 when she flew on an airplane to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of one her sons.<ref name="Deseret News plane">{{cite news|last1=Toone|first1=Trent|title=Lost recording of an interview with 1867 Mormon pioneer found|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865592255/Lost-recording-of-an-interview-with-1867-Mormon-pioneer-found.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212150934/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865592255/Lost-recording-of-an-interview-with-1867-Mormon-pioneer-found.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 12, 2013|access-date=July 7, 2016|agency=Deseret News|date=December 12, 2013}}</ref>
Fox died in Salt Lake City on April 12, 1958, at the age of 104. Fox said: "Life brings some hard lessons. The sturdiest plants are not grown under glass, and strength of character is not derived from the avoidance of problems."<ref name="ensign"/> Her descendant Brittany A. Chapman, a historian with the LDS Church History Department, gave a lecture on Fox's life in 2010 at the Church History Library.<ref name=":1" />
==Publications== ===Articles=== *{{cite journal|title=Mrs. Emeline Y. Nebeker|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=February 1930|volume=17|issue=2|pages=61–63|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag17reli#page/60/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=Mary Connelly Kimball|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=October 1930|volume=17|issue=10|pages=543–545|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag17reli#page/542/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=Women in Industry|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=November 1930|volume=17|issue=11|pages=585–590|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag17reli#page/584/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=A Word to Mothers|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=October 1931|volume=18|issue=10|pages=565–566|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag18reli#page/564/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=What Did the Prophet Joseph Smith Do For Women?|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=December 1936|volume=23|issue=12|pages=750–752|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag36reli#page/750/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=The Law of the Lord|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=July 1938|volume=25|issue=7|pages=470–471|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag38reli#page/470/mode/2up}}
===Dialogue=== * "Our Girls: A Parable of the Ten Talents". ''Young Women's Journal''. '''17''' (4). 172. April 1906.
===Poetry=== *{{cite journal|title=Aunt Em's Birthday|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=February 1922|volume=9|issue=2|page=60|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag09reli#page/n71/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=A Tribute to Sister Susa Y. Gates|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=August 1922|volume=9|issue=8|page=399|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag09reli#page/n471/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=Cumorah|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=September 1923|volume=10|issue=9|page=425|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag10reli#page/n517/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=Where is Heaven?|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=March 1925|volume=12|issue=3|page=111|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag12reli#page/n133/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal|title=Where is Heaven?|journal=Relief Society Magazine|date=October 1926|volume=13|issue=10|page=493|url=https://archive.org/stream/reliefsocietymag13reli#page/n581/mode/2up}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Thatcher, Linda "'I Care Nothing for Politics': Ruth May Fox, Forgotten Suffragist," ''Utah Historical Quarterly'' '''49''':239–253 (1981)
==External links== * {{MormonLit author|2201|Ruth May Fox}} * [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/timeline Ruth May Fox (1929–1937)] : summary of Fox's tenure as president of the Young Women Organization * [http://www.cainclan.us/AncestryInfo/FOX-EVENSON/Ruth%20May%20Fox/MY%20STORY.htm My Story by Ruth May Fox] : biography written by Fox's son and approved by Fox * [http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/175 Ruth May Fox Scrapbook, MSS 6148] at [https://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/ L. Tom Perry Special Collections], Brigham Young University * {{find a Grave|22645590}}
{{S-start}} {{s-rel|mo}} {{s-bef|before= Martha H. Tingey }} {{s-ttl | title = General President of the Young Women | years = December 6, 1904 – 1929}} {{s-aft | rows=2| after = Lucy Grant Cannon}} {{s-bef|before= Maria Young Dougall }} {{s-ttl | title = First Counselor in the<br>general presidency of the Young Women| years = 1905–1929}} {{s-end}}
{{LDSyoungwomen}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Ruth May}} Category:1853 births Category:1958 deaths Category:American women centenarians Category:American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters Category:American Latter Day Saint writers Category:Suffragists from Utah Category:Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Category:Counselors in the General Presidency of the Young Women (organization) Category:English women centenarians Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:English Latter Day Saint hymnwriters Category:English Latter Day Saints Category:General presidents of the Young Women (organization) Category:People from Westbury, Wiltshire Category:People from Utah Territory Category:English leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Category:Utah Republicans Category:American women hymnwriters Category:19th-century American women politicians Category:19th-century American politicians Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:American women human rights activists