Dedicated DB Celebrates Women’s History Month

Honoring Women Pioneers of Finance

March is Women’s History Month, and we are taking the opportunity to honor women who worked to open the doors of finance. These early trailblazers took a risk and went against gender norms to create their own place in the competitive world of finance. They faced an uphill battle to gain traction and find a path forward to success. As a result of their efforts more women were able to enter the field and push the needle forward.

Today we highlight:

Victoria Woodhull

Born in Homer, Ohio in 1838, she and her younger sister Tennessee Claflin became the main breadwinners for their family while working as healers and mediums in the family’s traveling medicine show. In the 1860s, as adults they founded the first Wall Street brokerage owned by women with money they earned serving as spiritual advisors to a wealthy clientele. The press referred to them as “The Bewitching Brokers” and the “Queens of Finance.” Victoria believed that financial success was necessary for women to attain equality and independence.  Their firm was a big success and served many female clients.

They used their earnings to publish a newspaper where they shared ideas about women’s equality and pushed for suffrage. She said, “We went to Wall Street not because I particularly wanted to be a broker but because I wanted to plant the flag of the women’s rebellion in the center of the continent.”

After their time progress was slow and it wasn’t until 1967 that the first woman, Muriel Siebert, took a seat on the board of the New York Stock Exchange.  Victoria Woodhull and her sister were the first female stock brokers and their forward thinking and actions opened the door for all the women who followed in the world of finance.

Learn more about women in business