An unusual surname and a storied life make Caroline Ruutz-Rees (1865 – 1954) an ideal case study for a program on best practices for conducting online newspaper research.

Caroline Ruutz-Rees broke ground in myriad realms. She broke ground in Greenwich as the headmistress (1890 – 1936) of Rosemary Hall, a progressive preparatory school for girls that emphasized academic excellence, athletics and student governance. Under her tutelage, Rosemary Hall transcended the girls’ finishing school and rivaled the boys’ prep schools of the time. In addition to her academic career, Ruutz-Rees held leadership roles both locally and nationally, as an activist for women’s suffrage, in the war effort during World War I, and in Democratic party politics. A house in Port Chester, owned by Rosemary Hall, served as the headquarters of the Greenwich Committee for Maternal Health, during the 1930s when birth control was illegal in Connecticut. Although she never married, she adopted and raised two children.

The program will demonstrate the methodology used to trace the life of Caroline Ruutz-Rees and the history of the school she co-founded through online newspaper resources. Registration required.

Registration link: VIRTUAL – Rock Ridge Revolutionary: Caroline Ruutz-Rees and Rosemary Hall | Demco Software (evanced.info)