page_title: Lucy Stone League
hierarchical_section_title: Lucy Stone League
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait and signature of Lucy Stone, as published in 1881 in History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II.
context_page_description: The Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is "A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost." It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.
  It was among the first feminist groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article.
  The group took its name from Lucy Stone, the first married woman in the United States to carry her birth name through life. The New York Times called the group the "Maiden Namers." They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921.
  The founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City journalist and critic. The wife of New York World columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman by the name she chose to use. The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat.
context_section_description: The Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is "A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost."  It was the first group to fight for women to be allowed to keep their maiden name after marriage—and to use it legally.
  It was among the first feminist groups to arise from the suffrage movement and gained attention for seeking and preserving women's own-name rights, such as the particular ones which follow in this article.
  The group took its name from Lucy Stone (1818–1893), the first married woman in the United States to carry her birth name through life (she married in 1855). The New York Times called the group the "Maiden Namers."  They held their first meetings, debates, and functions at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, including the founding meeting on 17 May 1921.
  The founder of the Lucy Stone League was Ruth Hale, a New York City journalist and critic. The wife of New York World columnist Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale challenged in federal court any government edict that would not recognize a married woman (such as herself) by the name she chose to use.  The only one in her household called Mrs. Heywood Broun was the cat.
  The League became so well known that a new term, Lucy Stoner, came into common use, meaning anyone who advocates that a wife be allowed to keep and use her own name. This term was eventually included in dictionaries. Women who choose not to use their husbands' surnames have also been called Lucy Stoners.
caption: Portrait and signature of Lucy Stone, as published in 1881 in History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II
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