Ruth Peter Worth, 1915-1997, by Jonathan Ned Katz

Ruth Peter Worth, originally Ruth Wertheimer, was a Jewish Holocaust survivor, a U.S. immigrant, a lesbian, and a long-time home owner in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York.  Worth's inclusion of the male name “Peter” on her U.S. "Certificate of Naturalization" was an act of resistance that asserted the naturalness and goodness of her lesbian desire and identity.

Thanks to Ron Van Cleef for major research assistance, German translations, photographs, written summaries, and the Ruth Peter Worth Chronology. 

Published originally on OutHistory on October 31, 2011. Updated in 2025.