The dogma of woman's complete historical subjection to men must be rated as one of the most fantastic myths ever created by the human mind.

Education and intellectual development
Beard attended public schools in Indianapolis and graduated as valedictorian of her Indianapolis (later called Shortridge) High School class before enrolling at DePauw University as would all the Ritter children in 1893. She came to believe that suffrage would hasten governmental regulation of economic conditions which would improve the lives of the working class. His eyes weak from exposure during the war Eli relied on Narcissa to read to him to help him complete his studies at Asbury and in preparation for the bar exam.

In addition Mary Ritter Beard collaborated with her husband eminent historian Charles Austin Beard on several distinguiMary Ritter Beardd works most notably The Rise of American Civilization (1927). Mary Ritter Beard (August 5 1876 Indianapolis Indiana – August 14 1958) was an American historian and archivist who played an important role in the women's suffrage movement and was a lifelong advocate of social justice through educational and activist roles in both the labor and woman's rights movements.