The fourth of seven children, Mary Ritter was born into a Quaker family and grew up in Indiana. She studied at DePauw University and became a teacher.
Ritter was a member of the Women's Trade Union League and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) before becoming one of the founders of the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage.
As a historian, Ritter argued that history ought to include social, cultural and economic factors and argued that women also played a major role in the advancement of civilisation.
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