Ruth Draper (1884-1956) was an American actress who specialised in monologues and one-woman-plays. She performed without scenery, using only a chair, a shawl, and occasionally a table as stage props. Draper successfully performed in the United States and Great Britain. 

It seems that Edward Steichen’s portrait of Ruth Draper shows her as one of the more than fifty characters she created for her plays. The expressive portrait of Ruth Draper was published in the October 1929 issue of Vanity Fair.