Mary Ritter Beard

Mary Ritter Beard was an American historian, author, women's suffrage activist, and women's history archivist who was also a lifelong advocate of social justice. As a Progressive Era reformer, Beard was active in both the labor and women's rights movements. She also authored several books on women's role in history including On Understanding Women (1931), America Through Women's Eyes, and Woman as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities (1946), her major work. In addition, she collaborated with her husband, historian Charles Austin Beard, as coauthor of seven textbooks, most notably The Rise of American Civilization (1927), two volumes, and America in Midpassage: A Study of the Idea of Civilization (1939) and The American Spirit (1942), the third and fourth volume of The Rise of American Civilization series. A standalone book, Basic History of the United States, was their best-selling work.

5 August 1876

Born on the same birth day (5 August): Alvin Ceccoli • Gavi (footballer) • Leonid Kizim • Louis Walsh • Rick van der Linden • Rosalind Hicks • Sammi Smith • Shirley Ann Jackson • Tobias Regner • Ulla Salzgeber • Wayne Bridge

Born in the same month (August 1876): Alexander I of Serbia • Charles F. Kettering • Giovanni Giuriati • Ivan Bilibin • John Scaddan • Kim Ku • Mary Roberts Rinehart • Mata Hari • Pingali Venkayya • Stylianos Gonatas • Varghese Payyappilly