Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business

Enterprising Woman by Virginia G. Drachman is a hefty book, not just in size but also in context. Its importance is in its demonstration of the fact that women were always part of the American business world. Each chapter in the book has a wealth of information with a short biography for each woman, copies of historical documents, and numerous photographs.

Even the first sentence of the introduction is enough to evidence the richness of the book and Drachman's authority on the subject. Drachman says, "Meet Katherine Goddard, owner of a print shop and publisher of the first signed copy of the Declaration of Independence; meet Madam C. J. Walker, whose hair care products brought her from her slave parents' dilapidated cabin to her own Hudson River estate down the road from the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts; meet Lane Bryant whose maternity fashions freed expectant mothers from the restrictions of confinement while liberating Bryant from the oppression of the New York City sweatshops; and meet Hazel Bishop, whose 'kissable' lipstick left an indelible mark on the cosmetics industry while her place in her company disappeared."

The book repeatedly points to the role women played in the business world of the United States regardless of the legal and social expectations, norms, and rules forced on them. Each story illustrates the life of a trailblazer female entrepreneur and the difficulties she overcame and the success she achieved. Although most of these women found their markets in beauty, fashion, and food industries, some managed companies in male-dominated industries like publishing, iron, and aircraft production.

The contents of the book are organized in chronological order in six chapters, and at the end of the book, notes for each chapter, credits, and a very valuable list for further reading are offered. Considering the magnitude of its subject and its historical context, the language of the book is clear, direct, and very readable.

The author of the book, Virginia G. Drachman, is Arthur Jr. and Lenore Stern Professor of American History at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. Drachman received her Ph.D. in history from SUNY Buffalo. She has received numerous honors and distinctions, including a Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowship. In addition, she was a Schlesinger Library Visiting Scholar in 1988-89, 1994-95, and 1999. She was also a Bunting Fellow in 1978-79 and a Murray Research Center Visiting Scholar in 1982-83 and 1985-86. As well as Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business, she is also the author of Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History, Women Lawyers and the Origins of Professional Identity in America: Letters of the Equity Club, 1887-1890, Hospital with a Heart: Women Doctors and the Paradox Separatism at the New England Hospital, 1862-1969.

The book is in hardcover, large size and with 208 pages and ISBN-10: 0807827622 and ISBN-13: 978-0807827628. It is published by The University of North Carolina Press in association with the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

This is just about the most delightful nonfiction book I have ever read. It is difficult for me, almost impossible, to point out to any one woman in the book and to say her story is my favorite. All these businesswomen have been awe-inspiring, and this book is a monumental success.