Ruth Morgan

Ruth Morgan (October 12, 1870 – March 11, 1934) was an American peace activist during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Working as a manager at Bellevue Hospital in New York City during the early 1900s, she was placed in charge of the Bureau of Hospital Services operated by the American Red Cross in France during World War I. Evaluating the nursing care and social needs of the soldiers serving with the American Expeditionary Forces upon her arrival, she quickly determined that significant improvements were needed and established "Flying Squadrons" of nurses "to be sent 'flying' over France in motor cars to each mobile, evacuation or military hospital where any American soldiers, brigaded with the French, had been sent." Equipped with food and medicine for the soldiers, they also frequently served as translators between the soldiers and their French physicians since many of the Americans they were assisting did not speak French.

Deeply affected by what she witnessed in France during that war, she rose to international prominence through her appointments during the 1920s to leadership positions with national and international advocacy organizations, including the League of Nations. Speaking to a gathering of women in 1925 as chair of the National League of Women Voters' committee on international cooperation, Morgan said:

"Our destinies are in our own hands.... If war goes on, it will be our own fault. We can no longer be deluded by the idea that such catastrophes are matters of fate. The establishment of peace is the responsibility of every woman in this room."

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