Ruth Fox (née May; November 16, 1853 – April 12, 1958) was a 19th-century English-born American women's rights activist in the Territory of Utah.

[3] At age eight, May moved with her father to Yorkshire to live a boarding house run by Mary Saxton.

As an older child, May enjoyed reciting poetry and telling stories and working alongside Clara Saxton.

After her father refused to give her permission to work in a factory, May assisted the Saxtons in performing various chores around the boarding house.

On their arrival in Philadelphia, James May married Mrs. Saxton, and he and the two girls found work in a textile mill to save money to go to Utah Territory.

[5] In 1867 the May family traveled by covered wagon and on foot to Salt Lake City with Leonard Rice's company.

[6] After settling in the Ogden area, Ruth attended John Morgan's College in Salt Lake City for four months.

[5] When her father bought a mill in Salt Lake City, Ruth worked for him operating equipment usually run by men.

She composed poetry, which first appeared in print in 1891, at which time she joined the Press Club, a women's literary organization.

Wells met with Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw when they visited Salt Lake City on May 12, 1895.

Her work resulted in success; the U.S. congress passed Utah's new constitution, granting women in the state the right to vote.

[6] Heber Manning Wells, the first governor of Utah, appointed Fox as a director of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, a position which she held for eight years.

She expressed concern over serving in this capacity at her age, but Grant assured her in a blessing that she would have "the same vigor of body and of mind" as when she was young.

[3] She changed the Lion House into a "home for girls" for them to socialize and attend classes in religion and writing; some 50 out-of-town young women lived there.

[5] As part of her duties as leader of the YLMIA, Fox visited and taught women all over the world in their local wards.

Members of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, as well as city and state leaders attended.