Her novel The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free could have been the precursor to her newly released ‘She Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street.’ As author and historian Paulina Bren told me, she ‘followed the women out of the Barbizon Hotel in New York to Wall Street’ from the late 1950s and 1960s to 9/11, Women looking for interim work, found their way to Wall Street. Out of the three jobs that were available to women: receptionist, secretary or clerk, Wall Street paid the most. And so began the entry of the She Wolves of Wall Street. The men were the brokers making the money, the women were their support staff. The women were watching and learning. Wall Street was being manned by women!
Muriel ‘Mickie’ Siebert was the first woman to have a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Patricia Walsh Chadwick, known as the Witch of Wall Street, came to Wall Street with only a secretarial certificate. The She Wolves were women who broke into the boy’s club. Their stories are full of grit, resilience, knowledge and determination. Join me for a conversation with Paulina as we discover how these women succeeded breaking through.
A writer, historian and professor, Paulina teaches International Studies, Women’s Studies, and Media Studies at Vassar College. Her previous books include the award winning The Greengrocer and His TV: The Culture of Communism after the 1968 Prague Spring.
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