Woman's Exchange Movement
The Woman's Exchange Movement (or Women's Exchange Movement) refers to a system of benevolent consignment stores, usually established and managed by women, to benefit women. A number of them are members of the Federation of Woman's Exchanges (1934), which is still active.
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Background
The Woman's Exchange Movement in the United States dates to 1832, with the establishment of the Philadelphia Ladies' Depository.[1][2]
Exchanges are non-profit establishments. In the 19th century they were mainly set up by philanthropic women, providing a setting for women to sell their embroidery, sewing, and fancywork. This allowed women to earn a living without working outside their homes.[3]: 1 Initially, the exchanges in Philadelphia and New Brunswick appear to have catered for women who had seen better days and had now become self-supporting.[4] At the time it was socially unacceptable for "genteel women" to work and the Women's Exchanges allowed them to sell their work anonymously.[5] The managers and organizers of the exchanges added to their philanthropic status.[3]: 2 These women were also able to use their entrepreneurial skills in a socially acceptable way.[3]: 3
Many exchanges added tearooms and lunchrooms, which provided more revenue and became fashionable meeting places for upper-class women.[3]: 95 While almost all the exchanges were unsuccessful as businesses, they nevertheless set high standards for the items they accepted, charging a commission of only 10 percent on sales. Consumers were therefore able to benefit from an interesting selection of hand-made articles at interesting prices.[4]
While many depositories and exchanges were local or regional operations, the Federation of Woman's Exchanges was established in 1934 and is still active.[6] While the Woman's Exchange Movement continued through the twentieth century and some exchanges are still in business, the movement has faded, due to a changing work force, rising rents, and a resistance to high-priced, hand-made merchandise.[7]
Select list of 19th-century Women's Exchanges
A table of Woman's Exchanges from 1832 through 1891 compiled from the 1891 publication Directory of Exchanges for Woman's Work and other sources.[3]: 121–123
Name | City | State | Year Founded |
---|---|---|---|
Woman's Exchange | Albany | New York | 1881 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Atchison | Kansas | 1888 |
Woman's Exchange | Augusta | Georgia | 1888 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Baltimore | Maryland | 1880[8] |
Women's Educational and Industrial Union | Boston | Massachusetts | 1880 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Bridgeport | Connecticut | 1887 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Bristol | Rhode Island | 1885 |
Brooklyn Female Employment Society | Brooklyn | New York | 1854[9] |
Woman's Exchange | Buffalo | New York | 1886 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Charleston | South Carolina | 1885 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Charlottesville | Virginia | 1888 |
Exchange for Woman's of Work Chicago | Chicago | Illinois | 1879 |
Cincinnati Ladies' Depository | Cincinnati | Ohio | 1868 |
Woman's Exchange | Cincinnati | Ohio | 1883 |
Woman's Exchange | Cleveland | Ohio | 1890 |
Woman's Exchange | Columbus | Ohio | 1885 |
Woman's Exchange | Decatur | Illinois | 1889 |
Woman's Exchange | Denver | Colorado | 1886 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Detroit | Michigan | 1889 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Duluth | Minnesota | 1889 |
Woman's Exchange | Elizabeth | New Jersey | 1887 |
Woman's Work Exchange | Englewood | New Jersey | 1884 |
United Workers and Woman's Exchange | Hartford | Connecticut | 1888 |
Woman's Exchange | Houston | Texas | 1887 |
Woman's Exchange | Jackson | Illinois | 1891 |
Woman's Exchange | Lancaster | Pennsylvania | 1885 |
Woman's Exchange | Lexington | Kentucky | 1885 |
Woman's Exchange | Little Rock | Arkansas | 1887 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Los Angeles | California | 1887 |
Woman's Exchange | Louisville | Kentucky | 1885 |
Woman's Exchange | Lynchburg | Virginia | 1890 |
Woman's Exchange | Madison | Wisconsin | 1887 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Memphis | Tennessee | 1887 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | 1882 |
Women's Work and Art Exchange | Morristown | New Jersey | 1885 |
Woman's Exchange | Mount Vernon | New York | 1888 |
Depository of the Union for Good Works | New Bedford | Massachusetts | 1881 |
Woman's Depository and Exchange | New Brunswick | New Jersey | 1856 |
Christian Woman's Exchange | New Orleans | Louisiana | 1881[10] |
Exchange for Woman's Work | New York | New York | 1878[11] |
Madison Avenue Depository and Exchange for Woman's Work | New York | New York | 1886 |
Harlem Exchange for Woman's Work | New York | New York | 1888 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Newark | New Jersey | 1881 |
Woman's Exchange | Newport | Rhode Island | 1887 |
Woman's Work Exchange | Norfolk | Virginia | 1884 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Northampton | Massachusetts | 1888 |
Woman's Exchange | Oshkosh | Wisconsin | 1890 |
Philadelphia Ladies' Depository | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 1832[1] |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 1888 |
Pittsburgh Ladies' Depository | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 1873 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 1886 |
Woman's Exchange | Plainfield | New Jersey | 1889 |
Rhode Island Exchange for Woman's Work | Providence | Rhode Island | 1881 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Richmond | Virginia | 1883 |
Rochester Art Exchange | Rochester | New York | 1880 |
Woman's Work Exchange | San Antonio | Texas | 1890 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | San Diego | California | 1887 |
Woman's Exchange | San Francisco | California | 1885 |
Woman's Industrial Exchange | Santa Barbara | California | 1890 |
Woman's Exchange | Springfield | Illinois | 1886 |
Woman's Exchange | St. Joseph | Missouri | 1886 |
St. Louis Ladies' Depository | St. Louis | Missouri | 1879 |
Woman's Exchange | St. Louis | Missouri | 1883[12] |
Woman's Work Exchange | St. Paul | Minnesota | 1882 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Stamford | Connecticut | 1885 |
Exchange for Woman's Work | Staunton | Virginia | 1890 |
Ladies' Exchange | Topeka | Kansas | 1889 |
Woman's Exchange | Troy | New York | 1887 |
Woman's Exchange | Utica | New York | 1888 |
Woman's Exchange | Washington, DC | 1890 | |
Woman's Exchange | Waterbury | Connecticut | 1890 |
Woman's Exchange | Wichita | Kansas | 1889 |
Prominent women in the Exchange Movement
- Louisa May Alcott, founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston
- Sara Dary Armbruster, founder of the Woman's Exchange, Philadelphia
- Margaret W. Bartlett, founder of the Christian Woman's Exchange, New Orleans[10]
- Ida Wikoff Baker, first president of the Woman's Exchange, Decatur, Illinois
- Mrs. G. Harmon Brown, founder of the Woman's Industrial Exchange, Baltimore
- Mary Atwater Choate, founder of the New York Exchange for Women's Work[11]
- Harriet Clisby, founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston
- Elizabeth Bacon Custer, founder of the New York Exchange for Women's Work
- Abby Morton Diaz, founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston
- Julia Ward Howe, founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston
- Grace Carew Sheldon, founder of the Woman's Exchange, Buffalo
- Candace Wheeler, founder of the New York Exchange for Women's Work[11]
See also
- Sarasota Woman's Exchange (founded 1962)
References
- "Woman's Exchange Movement". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- Salomon, Deborah. "Staying Power: Sandhills Woman's Exchange Survives Floods and Changing Times". thepilot.com. The Pilot LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- Sander, Kathleen Waters (1998). The Business of Charity: The Woman's Exchange Movement, 1832–1900. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252067037.
- Salmon, Lucy Maynard (1906). "Progress in the Household: The Woman's Exchange". Houghton, Mifflin and Company. pp. 161–198. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- Ames, Lynne (April 20, 1997). "Woman's Exchange, 65, Continues to Fill a Need". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- "Federation of Woman's Exchanges". Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- Hernández, Daisy (February 23, 2003). "A Genteel Nostalgia, Going Out of Business". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- Kelly, Jacques (January 8, 1999). "Tea room regulars, philanthropists give cherished institution a needed boost; Woman's exchange meets goal of raising $150,000". The Baltimore Sun.
- Frost, Mary (September 30, 2014). "Brooklyn Women's Exchange celebrates 160 Years". Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
- Willinger, Beth (2009). "The Women of the New Orleans Christian Woman's Exchange (1881 - )". Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820342696.
- Trebay, Guy (April 6, 2007). "Women's exchanges grew out of a post-Civil War need". The Palm Beach Post. p. 8E. Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- Trebay, Guy (April 6, 2007). "The cherry dress: As timeless as ever". The Palm Beach Post. p. 1E. Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.