McCormick, Ruth Hanna (1880-1944) Also known as: Simms, Ruth Hanna McCormick (1880-1944)

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Item Relations

Member of (5)
Mentioned in (10)
Received by (1)
Comments (0)

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

National Women's Trade Union League (NWTUL)

United States House of Representatives

Jane Addams to Ruth Hanna McCormick, July 14, 1913

Comments

Birth Date

1880-03-27

Death Date

1944-12-31

Birthplace

Cleveland, OH

Biographical Text

Ruth Hanna McCormick was a Republican politician and newspaper publisher. She was the daughter of one senator, Mark Hanna of Ohio, and the wife of another, Joseph Medill McCormick. Hanna was educated in boarding schools and took to politics early, stumping for woman suffrage, organizing women's Republican clubs in Illinois, and serving as her father's secretary in Washington, DC. She worked for the Progressive party in 1912 and in 1913, she succeeded Alice Paul as the head of the Congressional Committee for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, remaining until 1914. From 1919- 1924, McCormick was the chairman of the first woman's executive committee of the Republican National Committee and an associate member of the national committee. In 1924, she was appointed Illinois' national committeewoman, a position she served until 1928. After her husband's death in 1925, McCormick became more active in politics, she was elected to the United States House of Representative, serving Illinois 1929-1931. She ran unsuccessfully for her husband's Senate seat in 1929. McCormick then purchased the Rockford Daily Republic and became its publisher, bought a dairy farm, and opened a school for girls in New Mexico. McCormick was also engaged in fighting child labor and bettering working conditions for women. In 1940, she returned to politics and became a key figure in Thomas E. Dewey's presidential campaign.

McCormick married Senator Joseph Medill McCormick in 1903. The couple had three children, Katrina, Ruth, and John. After his death in 1925, she married former politician and banker Gallatin Simms in 1932. McCormick died in 1944.

Occupation

Source

Picture: U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Huntley, Kyle

Biebrich, Caitlin

Hajo, Cathy Moran

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Female

First appears

1912

Bibliography and Links

Find a Grave

Mrs. Ruth Simms, 64, dies of illness, Lincoln Journal Star December 29, 1944, p. 11

Mrs. Simms, G. O. P. Leader, Dies in Sleep, Chicago Tribune, January 1, 1945, p. 1.

SNAC

Wikipedia

Citation

“McCormick, Ruth Hanna (1880-1944),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed September 14, 2024, http://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/4583.

McCormick, Ruth Hanna (1880-1944) Also known as: Simms, Ruth Hanna McCormick (1880-1944)

Item Relations

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

National Consumers League

National Women's Trade Union League (NWTUL)

Republican Party

United States House of Representatives

Sophonisba P. Breckinridge to Jane Addams, April 17, 1912

Martha Carey Thomas to Marjorie Daw Johnson, July 23, 1912

Jane Addams to Catharine Waugh McCulloch, July 30, 1912

Margaret Dreier Robins to Frances Alice Kellor. October 9, 1912

Margaret Dreier Robins to Jane Addams, November 5, 1912

Margaret Dreier Robins to Jane Addams, November 5, 1912

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge to Jane Addams, October 1914

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge to Jane Addams, November 18, 1914

Jane Addams to Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, November 23, 1914

Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs to Jane Addams, October 26, 1922

Jane Addams to Ruth Hanna McCormick, July 14, 1913

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