Ridge left Ireland as a child and lived in Australia and New Zealand. She married in New Zealand in 1895, but the marriage subsequently failed and she immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in New York City. There she held various jobs including model and factory worker and it was during this period that she developed many of her leftist views. In 1918, she published her first long poem, The Ghetto, in the New Republic and later that year included it with other poems in book form. The book was a critical success and the following year she married for the second time. Ridge argued for women's rights and the working class, especially of the new immigrants to the country. In 1920, her second book of poetry, Sun-Up and Other Poems, appeared. Ridge was politically active and supported leftist causes wherever they presented themselves. She was arrested for protesting the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927 and, during the 1930's, she supported Mooney and Billings who were framed for a bombing in San Francisco. Her other works include Red Flag (1927), Firehead (1929) and Dance of Fire (1935).
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