Ruth Bryan Owen was a pioneering congresswoman and diplomat who grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. She was also a noted public speaker and author, and in 1922 became one of the first female filmmakers by writing, directing, and producing an independent motion picture (now lost) called Once Upon a Time.
But before all that, during her college years she was an athlete competing with the University of Nebraska’s women’s track team. She is shown at right in this circa-1902 photo that seems like an apt metaphor for her later career.
Ruth was an NU student for two years before dropping out to marry artist William Leavitt, who was in Lincoln to paint a portrait of Ruth’s famous father, William Jennings Bryan. The marriage wasn’t a happy one. In 1909 they divorced after Leavitt abandoned Ruth and their two children and moved to Paris to pursue his art career.
The following year Ruth married Reginald Owen, a British Army officer. Under the laws of the time, Bryan lost her US citizenship by marrying a foreign national. She later regained her citizenship, but the situation led to a legal battle years later when Ruth was elected to the US Congress and her defeated opponent challenged her eligibility. Bryan Owen prevailed, served two terms in the House of Representatives, and later served as Ambassador to Denmark—the first woman to serve as a US envoy.
Read more about Ruth Bryan Owen’s political career and citizenship case.
(Photo: NSHS RG2758-95-1)
