a history of women on wall street

Thank You!

Dara Albright, NowStreet Founder

“Women Who Shaped Wall Street”

NO women on Wall Street (women did not work outside the home)

Abigail Adams, Wife of John Adams

Abigail Adams, Wife of John Adams John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

Abigail Adams, Wife of John Adams John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

Abigail Adams, Wife of John Adams

24 % on Bond Investments

John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

Abigail Adams, Wife of John Adams

24 % on Bond Investments 2 % from Real Estate Investments

John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

John Adam’s House(Women could not own property)

Coverture was a legal doctrine whereby, upon marriage, a woman's legal rights were subsumed by those of her husband.

This was at a time when women still wore Bustles and Corsets

Corset Bustle

Victoria Woodhull – Worked forWomen’s right to vote

Victoria Woodhull – Worked forWomen’s right to vote

Friends and co-worker with Susan B. Anthony

Victoria Woodhull – In 1870 openedthe first woman-owned Brokerage

Financed by Cornelius Vanderbilt

Victoria Woodhull – In 1872 ran for President

Susan B. Anthony – Said women should be allowed to vote

Victoria Woodhull – Arrested a fewdays before the 1872 election

Susan B. Anthony – Arrested for votingIn the same 1872 Presidential election

Women wanted to vote, property rights, and reproductive rights.

Hetty Green – . As a child, she read the financial pages to her father, and by the time she was 14, she stated that she knew “as much about finance as any man.” Unlike many women in her day, she managed her own money, and turned her comfortable inheritance into a fortune.

Hetty Green – The “World’s Greatest Miser” – Guinness Book of Records Richest woman in the world at the time - $200 million.

Hetty Green – The “Witch of Wall Street”One obituary for Green noted that “many of her personality traits would have been considered unremarkable if they had been found in a man.”

Susan B. Anthony died in 1906, Women still could not vote. This protest at the White House on July 14, 1917 resulted in 16 arrests.

Protests continued

Protests continued

Any Wall Street jobs for women were simple and undesirable.

Finally, on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed that allowed women to vote.

Finally, on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed that allowed women to vote.

During the “roaring twenties” things were looking up….

Isabell Benham - Working for years for a boss whom she said “made life difficult,” Benham went on to become one of the most distinguished railroad analysts on Wall Street and the first woman to be named partner at a Wall Street bond house.

Isabell Benham at 100 in 2009 -

Isabell Benham - Working for years for a boss whom she said “made life difficult,” Benham went on to become one of the most distinguished railroad analysts on Wall Street and the first woman to be named partner at a Wall Street bond house.

Betty Freidan’s 1963 book became a sensation—creating a social revolution by dispelling the myth that all women wanted to be happy homemakers. Friedan encouraged women to seek new opportunities for themselves.

Betty Freidan – Founded National Organization for Women in 1966. She also fought for abortion rights by establishing the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America).

Trading Floor

Muriel Siebert – December 28, 1967 – First woman to obtain a seat on the New York Stock Exchange – She had trouble getting the loan for the $445,000

August 26, 1970 – 50 Years after the right to vote

“An attractive girl with hazel eyes and ash-blonde hair…It is distracting to have such a pretty girl – a trim 5 feet 3 inches tall in a size 7 dress….”

Terms: “Sexist” and “Sexism” – first used in 1968

The Problem

The Illusion

http://video.answers.com/muriel-siebert-first-lady-of-wall-street-517470734

Muriel Siebert – First woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange

In 1990 Muriel Siebert created the Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan, through which she shares half of her firm's profits from new securities underwriting with charities of the issuers' choices. The program offers buyers of new securities a chance to help charities in their communities. Through 2006, more than $5 million has been contributed through this program.

As investors, men are more often looking for a quick “pop”

Women are more conservative, longer term investors

Would “Lehman Sisters” have failed?

Male-dominated Wall Street has not fully accepted women as equals in running major institutions, there are nevertheless many powerful women who have overcome prejudice and proven their capabilities...

Ellen Philip, CEO Ellen Philip Associates

“We may soon need affirmative action for men….”Michelle D. Bernard, CEO and President, Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy

Thank You!

Dara Albright, NowStreet Founder