CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.- The Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library and the National Heritage Museum present "Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business," on view through February 23, 2003. The Schlesinger Library of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass., announce a major national exhibition that reinterprets the history of American women and of American business. Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business tells the compelling story of American women in business from the colonial era to the present.

 

Enterprising Women brings to life the stories of some 40 intriguing women who helped shape the landscape of American business. Artifacts and costumes, diaries and letters, business and legal documents, photographs and paper ephemera, audio recordings, and interactive technology reveal the trials and triumphs of this diverse group of inventors, innovators and trendsetters.

 

The exhibition tells a saga grand in sweep and rich in details. Organized into five historic sections and enhanced by interactive and evocative settings, such as an 18th-century printshop, a 19th-century dressmaking shop, turn-of-the-century beauty parlor, and a 20th-century corporate office, Enterprising Women illuminates and personalizes the nation’s transformation from an agricultural and household economy to one influenced by industrialization, the rise of big business, the emergence of consumer culture, and the communications-technology revolution. Along the way, the exhibition highlights the ways in which race, class, ethnicity, geography, generation and social upheaval infused the experiences of women in business.

 

"I am delighted that the Radcliffe Institute has organized this groundbreaking exhibition," said Drew Gilpin Faust, Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and professor of history at Harvard University. "Enterprising Women will transform understanding of American business history by presenting the experiences of women who overcame daunting obstacles to become entrepreneurs. These women of the past have left an important legacy for the American women of today, who own more than 7.7 million firms, representing 40 percent of businesses operating in the United States at the opening of the 21st century."

According to Jane Knowles, project director for Enterprising Women and acting director of the Schlesinger Library, "This exhibition is the first to combine the whole sweep of women’s entrepreneurial activity from Mary Katherine Goddard, printer of the first signed copy of the Declaration of Independence, to Katharine Graham, publisher of the Pentagon Papers and owner of The Washington Post."

 

"It is a distinct pleasure for the museum to team with the Radcliffe Institute in the development and realization of this innovative and important project," said John H. Ott, executive director of the National Heritage Museum. "This exhibition is steeped in the great themes of our country’s history, and will present a wealth of material from period artifacts to state-of-the-art multimedia presentations. It is a privilege for us to premiere the exhibition and to collaborate with the Schlesinger Library on this exciting endeavor."