Mid-twentieth-century women could be “bosses” and “ladies” but this required them to effectively navigate inherent tensions between these two labels, to seize opportunities wherever they found them and sometimes to embrace stereotypical and status quo ideas to support their business success. Boss Lady tells this story, examining the history of three female entrepreneurs who established companies in the 1930s, sold them to major corporations in the 1960s/70s and became some of the first female board members in the country’s largest companies. Tillie Lewis, founder of Flotill Products in Stockto ... More

Mid-twentieth-century women could be “bosses” and “ladies” but this required them to effectively navigate inherent tensions between these two labels, to seize opportunities wherever they found them and sometimes to embrace stereotypical and status quo ideas to support their business success. Boss Lady tells this story, examining the history of three female entrepreneurs who established companies in the 1930s, sold them to major corporations in the 1960s/70s and became some of the first female board members in the country’s largest companies. Tillie Lewis, founder of Flotill Products in Stockton, California, Olive Ann Beech co-founder of Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, and Margaret Rudkin founder of Pepperidge Farm in Fairfield, Connecticut became the first women on the boards of the Ogden Corporation, Raytheon and Campbell’s Soup. These female leaders began their ascent to the top of the business world before women enjoyed widespread access to higher education, credit discrimination protections or federal incentives for business ownership. And they did so in the manufacturing sector which historically has drawn few female entrepreneurs because of its high barriers to entry. How they charted paths to success by leveraging their networks, capitalizing on relations with government, conforming to conventional labor management strategies, manipulating commonly-held gender ideas to their advantage, and asserting and advocating for themselves is the focus of the book. Restoring this earlier generation of female business leaders to the history of corporate America illustrates what it took for women to be successful in a man’s world in an era of obstacles.