Caroline Ruutz-Rees (August 16, 1865 – February 15, 1954) was a British–American academic, educator, and suffragist. Ruutz-Rees was very involved in the women's suffrage movement in Connecticut. She served as the first head teacher of Rosemary Hall. She was also a member of the executive board of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA).
Ruutz-Rees was born in London on August 16, 1865.[1][2] She attended private schools in London.[3] Ruutz-Rees came to the United States around 1882 or 1883, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen.[4][5][3] The next year, she started teaching at the St. John the Baptist School in New York and later, at the St. Mary's School in Burlington, New Jersey.[1] In the years of 1898 and 1899, she studied advanced Greek courses at Yale's graduate school.[3]
In 1890, she started working as headmistress of Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford.[1] The curriculum of Rosemary Hall was strong in the humanities, with Ruutz-Rees working "to empower young women to pursue a wide variety of intellectual studies."[6] The school, under her direction, was one of the first American girls' schools to require Uniforms.[7] Ruutz-Rees' method of teaching and administrating the school was based on English girls' schools.[8] In 1900, the school was moved to Greenwich.[9] She went to Scotland to study at St. Andrew's University, earning her degree in 1904.[3] She studied French literatureinGrenoble and in Paris.[3] Ruutz-Rees earned her master's degree in 1909 and her doctorate in 1910 from Columbia University.[10][3] She wrote articles about French Literature for the Modern Language Association and wrote for Modern Language Notes, Romantic Review and the Yale Review.[3] In 1910, she published a book about Charles de Sainte-Marthe, Charles de Sainte-Marthe: A Study in French Renaissance.[3]
Ruutz-Rees continued to participate in civic life after women won the vote. In 1920, she was appointed to the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee.[16] In 1922, she was considered a possible Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.[17]
Ruutz-Rees turned over the full-time administration of the school to Eugenia Baker Jessup in 1938 and continued to work with the school after her retirement.[8][9][18] During her life, she adopted two children.[2] Ruutz-Rees died in her home in Greenwich on February 15, 1954.[1]
