BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Only One in the Room: Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success

DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Only One in the Room: Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success:

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Description of Pictures: The Only One in the Room: Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success
November 20, 2020 – TBA
Getting to the top in business is always tough, and for women tougher yet. While women are inventive, driven, and great managers they often face discrimination and cultural boulders blocking their path. For the few women that do get to the highest levels, on arrival they often find themselves alone—the only one in the room. This display features the stories of eight strong women who made it to the top.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ONLY1_210524_04.JPG: The Only One In The Room Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success Getting to the top in business is always tough, and for women tougher yet. While women are inventive, driven, and great managers they often face discrimination and cultural boulders blocking their path. For the few women that do get to the highest levels, on arrival they often find themselves alone -- the only one in the room. Here are the stories of eight strong women who made it to the top. This display explores the stories of eight women in business who achieved in their industries. It is important to recognize their accomplishments and consider the obstacles they overcame. These women lived in different time periods and locations, but they all faced discrimination based on who they were. Throughout their careers they often were the only one like them -- the only one of their race, nationality, gender, class, or religion. In many of the following cases, norms of the time resulted in strict hierarchies for people of all genders. In many industries like manufacturing, finance, marketing, and beauty, some men prohibited women from taking leadership roles within companies and relegated them to positions with low status and little decision-making power. Despite this, some women worked hard to make it to the top. Some of the women profiled here started businesses with the help of family, like Rebecca Lukens and Lillian Vernon. Others, like Tillie Lewis and Rea Ann Silva, built their businesses from the ground up. Still others, like Mary-Dell Chilton, encountered sexism even as their research resulted in breakthroughs. In racially segregated markets, women like Maggie Lena Walker, Lena Richard, and Sara Sunshine carved out their own routes to the top by prioritizing diverse communities. Their persistent hard work paid off in the form of recognition, accolades, and national awards. The women profiled here achieved great things. Even as some women reach the top, gender discrimination persists in the workplace. In a recent national survey, four in ten women reported experiencing discrimination at work. Women earn less than men, are treated as if they are not competent, and are passed over for important assignments. Addressing the workplace barriers that women face is a priority for many companies.
2. ONLY1_210524_07.JPG: The Only One in the Room Getting to the top in business is always tough, and for women tougher yet. While women are inventive, driven, and great managers they often face discrimination and cultural boulders blocking their path. For the few women that do get to the highest levels, on arrival they often find themselves alone -- the only one in the room. This display features the stories of eight strong women who made it to the top.
3. ONLY1_210524_12.JPG: New Orleans Cook Book by Lena Richard, 1940 Lena Richard, about 1892-1950 Lena Richard, an African American chef and entrepreneur, built a dynamic culinary career in the segregated South. She owned and operated catering businesses, eateries, a fine-dining restaurant, a cooking school, and an international frozen food business despite experiencing many class-, race-, and gender-based inequalities. Houghton Mifflin published Richard's New Orleans Cook Book in 1940, which launched her career as a pioneer in food TV. As a young woman, Richard worked in domestic service for a wealthy White family. Her exceptional aptitude in the kitchen led her to pursue professional training at Miss Farmer's School of Cookery in Boston. She was likely the only woman of color in her class and probably had to dine separately from other students because of her race. After graduating in 1918, Richard returned to New Orleans where she launched her own catering and restaurant businesses. She used this copper chafing dish for catering events. Having built her reputation as a chef, Richard shared her life's work in a self-published cookbook, Lena Richard's Cook Book, in 1939. Editors at Houghton Mifflin recognized the book's value and published an edition for a national readership in 1940 under a different title, New Orleans Cook Book. Using that platform, Richard shared with readers the mission of her recently opened cooking school: to better the lives of young African American food service industry workers. Richard had more options than most Black women chefs in the Jim Crow era. Restaurants on the East Coast recruited her as head chef of their fine-dining establishments. Taking lessons from those experiences, in 1949 she opened the Gumbo House in New Orleans, one of few black-owned fine-dining restaurants. Richard carved out a unique space for herself in the local restaurant scene, attracting both White and Black clientele even during segregation. In 1949 Richard broke new barriers as one of America's early television chefs, and one of the first African Americans on TV. Her cooking program placed the culinary ingenuity of women, often hidden behind the kitchen door, front and center. The show was so popular that it aired twice weekly. Richard passed away in 1950 just as her career was taking off in food television.
4. ONLY1_210524_17.JPG: Bank of Chester Valley $10 note, 1860 Rebecca Lukens In the man's world of manufacturing, Rebecca Lukens took control of Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, in 1825 after the deaths of her father and her husband. Her Quaker faith influenced how she learned the trade and ran her business, a delicate balance between being fair and making a profit. The company, nearly bankrupt when her husband died, flourished under her visionary thinking and business acumen. The eldest child of parents Isaac and Martha Pennock, Rebecca was born on January 6, 1794, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The Pennocks were Quakers whose faith shaped their lives. Because of their religious connections, their daughter attended two Quaker boarding schools. While she learned traditional subjects, her father taught her the family business, Brandywine Iron Works, which made small iron products such as nails, iron tires, barrel hoops and blacksmith rods. Rebecca married Charles Lukens, a physician, in 1813 and soon after her father leased him the family business, which he took over. New technologies powered the nation's industrial age, so Charles transitioned the mill to produce iron boilerplate for steamships. The mill provided the material for one of the nation's first ironclad steamships, the Codorus. Charles died during the summer of 1825, before the completion of the ship. On his deathbed, Charles made Rebecca promise to run the company. The request strained Rebecca's relationship with her mother, especially after the death of Rebecca's father, Isaac. Isaac made a verbal promise to Rebecca but in his will left his personal property to his wife, Martha. Martha did not support Rebecca and refused to give her the business outright. Rebecca characterized this period of her life as a "hard and weary struggle." Rebecca Lukens had a bold vision for her company. She learned the latest iron and steel technologies and used them to make new products like boilerplate. She also was one of the first industrial employers to build housing for her employees. These business choices put her at the vanguard of her industry. Although the company was successful, competitors sued Lukens and sometimes complained about the quality of her iron products. Holding fast to Quaker principles such as fairness and peaceful dealings with others, Lukens kept the company afloat even through the major recession known as the Panic of 1837. Lukens retired from the mill in the late 1840s and died in 1854. The Bank of Chester Valley featured the inside of the mill on a $10 bank note. The company remained in the family until Bethlehem Steel bought it in 1998.
5. ONLY1_210524_20.JPG: Tillie Lewis, 1896-1977 Tomatoes gave Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis her start, but dieting made her rich. Myrtle Ehrlich changed her name to Tillie at an early age and continued to reinvent herself throughout her life. Opening a cannery, the media-savvy entrepreneur developed a nationwide brand: Tasti-Diet. Despite her spectacular success, the California business community only grudgingly accepted her. Behind her back they often spoke of her in slurs against her gender and Jewish ethnicity. Born to a poor Jewish immigrant family, Tillie Ehrlich sought a different life. She escaped her parents' control with a loveless marriage of convenience. While married to Louis Weisberg, the young entrepreneur worked hard in their small grocery store but also carried on a romantic and business relationship with Italian food importer Florindo del Gaizo (21 years her senior). During the roaring twenties, she and del Gaizo opened a stock brokerage. Passage of the 1930 Smoot Hawley tariff provided Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis a business opportunity. To avoid the 50% tariff on the canned tomatoes that the del Gaizo family exported to the United States, they gave her expertise, money, and a 15% share in the new cannery, Flotill, that she founded for them in Stockton, California. In 1937, after the death of Florindo, she bought out the del Gaizos' shares. Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis was driven by a combination of altruism and pragmatism. She was known for her commitment to hiring a diverse workforce. Of course, women, the elderly, and people of color were paid less which kept her operating costs down. Wildly successful, the flamboyant Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis expected much of herself and others. She launched the Tasti-Diet brand in 1951, telling Americans "Two out of every five people should be on a diet." The nation ate it up. Starring in most of the promotional ads, Lewis became famous and changed Flotill to Tillie Lewis Foods. She lived a lavish life, giving many presents to friends and family. Never close to anyone, she died alone in the hospital. Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis lived by several gender-based axioms including: * A woman has to be five times as good as a man to get one-fifth the recognition. * Never ask a man "Do you understand?" * If a man makes a pass, don't recognize it. * Never accept an inappropriate romantic invitation in the workplace. * Be a good listener but a short answerer. * Finger pointing, finding blame, is a waste of time.
6. ONLY1_210524_26.JPG: Burroughs adding machine, 1911–1913 Maggie Lena Walker, 1864-1934 In 1903 Maggie Lena Walker did the unimaginable: she created a bank and hired Black women to run it. Living in the segregated South, Walker started St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and dedicated her life to African American advancement. As the only Black woman bank president in the nation, she advocated for Black working women and girls by creating jobs, funding educational institutions, and participating in prominent civil rights organizations. During the early 1900s, most African American women labored in the domestic service industry. St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and the fraternal order from which it formed, the Independent Order of St. Luke, employed a record number of African American women in white-collar jobs during this time. Walker was known to be strict, not tolerating tardiness and insisting workers save or donate money to company fundraisers. Maggie Lena Walker saw to it that St. Luke Bank used the latest banking technologies. The Burroughs Company made state-of-the-art adding machines that were used in financial businesses around the country. The bank's accountants used machines like this in their daily work. Walker served on the Board of Directors of the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., which educator Nannie Helen Burroughs established. Both women participated in important organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association of Wage Earners. They advocated for racial, economic, and political justice for African Americans.
7. ONLY1_210524_28.JPG: Rea Ann Silva, 1961 - Professional makeup artist and single mom Rea Ann Silva created the original Beautyblender sponge out of necessity. As one of the first professional makeup artists to work on TV shows in high definition, she needed a tool that would quickly allow her to apply makeup and make it look natural. Having worked with entertainers like Regina King, Kerry Washington, and Macy Gray, Silva created a beauty tool that can now be found everywhere. Rea Ann Silva with actor Kerry Washington, 2000 Making it in the beauty industry as a Latina was not easy. Some directors refused to hire Silva because of her race. Silva turned this adversity into an advantage and made a name for herself as an expert makeup artist who focused on entertainers of color. Although women have traditionally purchased beauty products, men have dominated the industry, especially at the top. Silva created the Beautyblender sponge while working on the set of the TV show Girlfriends, which debuted in 2000. It was one of the first TV shows shot in high definition, so Silva needed a tool that would help her apply makeup during takes and that would look flawless after hours on set. Silva's work ethic comes from her family background and her personal desire to succeed. Her mother worked as a waitress and her father as a mechanic. They taught her the value of working hard to get ahead. Silva embodied this principle as she took on double and triple shifts to earn the money she needed to raise her growing family and to get her business off the ground. After creating the iconic egg-shaped sponge, Silva next faced the challenge of mass production. Her sponges had become so popular that people often stole them from set. She first began cutting sponges in her home, but eventually moved production to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, where the products are made today by her predominantly African American and Latinx workforce. Silva recently expanded the company's offerings to include 40 shades of foundation. In the past, foundation offerings for people of color were limited. The popularity of companies like Rihanna's Fenty speaks to the need to provide more color options. Silva embraces this opportunity, noting "I always try to do the most and not the least. . . . Being Latina, we are a very colorful people. We are not afraid of color. We embrace color. And we celebrate color."
8. ONLY1_210524_34.JPG: New Perspectives The Only One in the Room Getting to the top in business is always tough, and for women tougher yet. While women are inventive, driven, and great managers they often face discrimination and cultural boulders blocking their path. For the few women that do get to the highest levels, on arrival they often find themselves alone -- the only one in the room. Here are the stories of eight strong women who made it to the top.
9. ONLY1_210524_41.JPG: Maggie Lena Walker, about 1920 Maggie Lena Walker, 1864-1934 In 1903 Maggie Lena Walker did the unimaginable: she created a bank and hired Black women to run it. Living in the segregated South, Walker started St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and dedicated her life to African American advancement. As the only Black woman bank president in the nation, she advocated for Black working women and girls by creating jobs, funding educational institutions, and participating in prominent civil rights organizations.
10. ONLY1_210524_43.JPG: Walker with accountants, 1917 During the early 1900s, most African American women labored in the domestic service industry. St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and the fraternal order from which it formed, the Independent Order of St. Luke, employed a record number of African American women in white-collar jobs during this time. Walker was known to be strict, not tolerating tardiness and insisting workers save or donate money to company fundraisers.
11. ONLY1_210524_51.JPG: Burroughs adding machine, 1911–1913 Maggie Lena Walker saw to it that St. Luke Bank used the latest banking technologies. The Burroughs Company made state-of-the-art adding machines that were used in financial businesses around the country. The bank's accountants used machines like this in their daily work.
12. ONLY1_210524_57.JPG: Receipt from National Training School for Women and Girls, 1929 Walker served on the Board of Directors of the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., which educator Nannie Helen Burroughs established. Both women participated in important organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association of Wage Earners. They advocated for racial, economic, and political justice for African Americans.
13. ONLY1_210524_69.JPG: New Collections New Ideas History is always in flux. Curators collect new objects and embark on fresh research. This case features some of the museum's latest acquisitions and shares up-to-date interpretations of existing collections. The exhibition changes frequently; you can see past topics in the digital reader to your right.
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