Ruth Fuller Field

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Ruth Fuller Field
Ruth Fuller Field
BornRuth White Fuller
June 17, 1864
Deerfield, Massachusetts
DiedFebruary 22, 1935(1935-02-22) (aged 70)
Tujunga, California
Pen nameMary Casal
EducationIllinois Industrial University
GenreAutobiography, lesbian literature
Notable worksThe Stone Wall
Spouse
Frank A. Field
​
​
(m. 1887, divorced)​
PartnerEmma Elizabeth Altman (1894–1908)

Ruth Fuller Field (June 17, 1864 – February 22, 1935), also known by her pen name Mary Casal, was an American writer known for writing The Stone Wall, the first known autobiography of a lesbian woman in the United States.

Early life and education[edit]

Ruth White Fuller was born on June 17, 1864,[1] in Deerfield, Massachusetts into a middle-class family, to Joseph Negus Fuller[2][3] and Lydia Ann White.[3] She had eight siblings, and was the youngest of the family.[4][5] Her uncle was the painter George Fuller.[6] She was prone to socialize mainly with boys in Deerfield. As a child, she attended Deerfield Academy, where she met her first girlfriend.[3]

After completing her primary education, Fuller attended Illinois Industrial University (now the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). She studied literature and science, and served as secretary for the student government before dropping out in 1883.[3]

Adult life[edit]

After leaving IIU, she began working as a schoolteacher at a girls' day school in Beacon Hill, Boston.[7] She married Frank A. Field on October 12, 1887.[3] The pair divorced by 1894 following stillbirths in 1889 and 1891 and extramarital affairs.[5] The father of the second stillbirth was alleged to be William McMurtrie, "The Professor" in The Stone Wall.[3]

Fuller's partner, Emma Elizabeth Altman, known as "Juno" in The Stone Wall

Following the separation, Fuller patented a children's toy.[5] Her entrepreneurship is especially notable because it went against the traditional womanly values at the time.[3] While working on and advertising the toy, she traveled further northeast and closer to New York City. It is during her stay at the Margaret Lousia Home in New York City that she met Emma Elizabeth Altman,[3] dubbed "Juno" in her autobiography,[8] and they quickly fell in love. Fuller and Altman were married in a private ceremony in 1894.

Fuller dropped her toy business and ran a school with Altman within their home, working as a commercial artist in the process. Altman later became engaged to "Jack", a gay man, leading Fuller to travel Europe for two years. Fuller and Altman's relationship ended, as well as their friendship, but they continued to correspond with one another.[3]

Fuller worked as secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in Napa, California.[9] She lived in California until her death in 1935 after living there for 20 years. Fuller died of chronic myocarditis and arteriosclerosis in Tujunga, California on February 22, 1935.[3]

The Stone Wall[edit]

Prompted by editor Douglas Crawford McMurtrie, Fuller wrote the autobiography The Stone Wall in 1928 and 1929. It was published by Eyncourt Press in 1930, under the pseudonym Mary Casal, when Fuller was 65 years old.[3][7][10][4] Her true identity was kept secret due to the nature of the writing, as she wished not to expose herself or those who she'd had relationships with. The autobiography accounts her life as a queer woman during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It details the relationships she had in secret with other women.[4] Many of these women were given aliases in order to protect their identities, including her teacher while attending Deerfield Academy, "Flo", and most notably, "Juno", who she remained in a relationship with for the longest period of time.[11]

Fuller's true identity wasn't discovered until 2003, during research carried out by Sherry Ann Darling for her doctoral thesis at Tufts University.[11][12]

The Stone Wall's influence[edit]

Fuller's impact on queer communities created various spaces for acceptance in a time full of strife concerning LGBTQ+ rights. Some stories have linked the autobiography's name to Bonnie's Stone Wall (later the Stonewall Inn) in Greenwich Village, a tearoom which opened the same year the book was released.[13][14]

Fuller's work inspired other literature, including Barbara Grier's Lesbian Lives: Biographies of Women from the Ladder.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sheldon, George (1983). A history of Deerfield, Massachusetts : a facsimile of the 1895-96 ed. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. OCLC 10933357.
  2. ^ Casal, Mary (1930). The Stone Wall: An Autobiography. Chicago: Eyncourt Press. ISBN 978-1075658624.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k da Costa, Francisco Araujo (November 23, 2020). "Ruth Fuller Field Chronology". OutHistory. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Grier, Barbara (1976). "Life History of a Lesbian: Mary Casal". Lesbian Lives: Biographies of Women from the Ladder. Diana Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-88447-012-0.
  5. ^ a b c Katz, Jonathan (1992). Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. Meridian. pp. 548–556. ISBN 0-452-01092-6. OCLC 889640656.
  6. ^ Ryan, Hugh (2019). When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-250-16992-1.
  7. ^ a b The History Project (1998). Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and Gay History from the Puritans to Playland. Boston: Beacon Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780807079492.
  8. ^ Faderman, Lillian (2022). Woman: The American History of an Idea. Yale University Press. p. 231. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2bfhhfs.12. ISBN 978-0-300-24990-3. JSTOR j.ctv2bfhhfs. S2CID 247000314.
  9. ^ "Artists and Their Work". Oakland Tribune. February 18, 1923. p. 48.
  10. ^ Stewart, William (1995). Cassell's queer companion : a dictionary of lesbian and gay life and culture. Emily Hamer. London. p. 243. ISBN 0-304-34303-X. OCLC 36498511.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ a b Raymond, Kaymarion (May 11, 2019). "Ruth Fuller Field". From Wicked To Wedded. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  12. ^ A., Darling, Sherry (2004). A critical introduction to The Stone Wall: An Autobiography. UMI. OCLC 56525575.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Wang, Hansi Lo (May 30, 2016). "Long A Symbol, Stonewall Inn May Soon Become Monument To LGBT Rights". NPR. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  14. ^ Chee, Alexander (June 27, 2019). "From Florida to Alaska, America's LGBTQ Bars Feel Like Home to Many". Time. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
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