Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-05-14

The subject of whether a woman
upon marrying should take the
name of her husband or retain her
own name, as is recommended by
the Lucy Stone league, is discussed
by the popular critic. Haywood
Broun, in the May VANITY Fair
issued today. Mr.. Broun writes as
followss
Il want you" says the gentle
man in good many American
communities, ito meet the wife"
I'm delighted" says Mr.. Fes-
sender. Excuse my glove"
1t is traditional that the lady
concerned should also be delighted,
but of late she has seemed FESTIVE.
Many social, political and econom-
ic forces have been at work to
make her person in her own
right, but her name has been n
hitching post She still lacks n
name of her very own. The one
under which she passes is merely
hers by marriage. 1t is in sense
a wedding gift like the travelling
clock and the silver water pitcher
Perhaps her other name, the one
which came to her little after
birth, has come to have a great
practical value in the world of
business, or art, or society.
Though name may be the prod
uct of years of unconscious growth
and conscious effort it can be
swept away in a moment by a few
words from an officiating clergy
man. He has attempted to per-
form the great miracle on which
modern society is said to rest. The
churchgoers have witnessed a con-
juring trick. Two people have been
made one. But in the performance
OF the trick the young woman who
had a name before she approached
the altar has disappeared. The
one person who remains is the
man.
I II the gentleman participating
IN the wedding happens to be ia
nous SO much the worse is the lot
OF his wife. Then indeed is her
identity threatened with annihila-
tion. The name which Is about to
be thrust upon her means some
thin~ very definite and that some
iilpoI tNi ldililg hui Slit.
liter years of submission to a
man made custom woman has
co-ie to believe, that she does not
care. This particular tyranny has
been accomplished without resort
to law but by the stronger force of
custom. Eventually, an American
woman who was about to marry
decided that she wished to keep
her own name. 1t happened to be
Lucy Stone and she liked it. "My
name is the symbol of my own
identity" she said. land must not
be lost" She consulted the law
yers of the state of Massachusetts
and also a supreme court Judge,
and found that there was no legal
barrier which would prevent her
keeping her own name. And so
she married and remained Lucy
Stone.
Within the last two years a
league has been formed which
bears her name and has taken her
words as its motto. 1t also bears
an unofficial motto contributed by
George s. Kaufman. the play
wright. His version is "a Lucy
Stone Gathers No Boss" The
league was formed to spread
among women the knowledge that
they have the privilege of keeping
their own names after marriage,
IL they so desire. or cotirse, the
Lucy Stone league has made no
attempt to have this practice made
compulsory by legislation or even
confirmed by legislation. The legal
right already exists. A woman las
the choice of keeping her own
name or taking that OF her hus-
band. But custom is often strong
er than law and 1t is custom which
the Lucy Stoners must fight
"What will the servants say
"What will the postman say?" and
"How can I tell whether or not n
woman is married unless she calls
herself Mrs. Something or other?"
are the commonest objections.
The first objection is of course
purely spurious. Few of us know
the postman well enough to care
about his opinions as
long as we get all the letters ex-
cept the bills. AS for the servants,
the development OF the Lucy stone
movement might be extremely use
.ful in helping to liberate the house
holder from the censorship below
stairs, to which he now submits
80 abjectly. In regard to the third
objection, it may be pointed out
That If the practice of the keep
your own name movement spreads
sufficiently, it will become impossi-
!. BILE to divide the married and the
4 unmarried women off-hand. But
. we believe n little thought will still
serve to solve the problem. Some.