Mae Reeves stands on the farthest right in a group of unidentified women in 1950. Image courtesy of the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.
In 1986, a Congressional resolution and proclamation by President Ronald Reagan officially recognized September 22 as American Business Women’s Day. This date was chosen to celebrate the founding of the American Business Women’s Association on September 22, 1949. The association began as a way to provide structured opportunities for networking, career development, and workplace skills training to women who had entered the workforce during World War II. The annual holiday provides an opportunity to honor the legacy and contributions of the women working in America and the nearly 13 million women who own businesses.1 This year, learn about Mae Reeves, Anna Bissell, Estée Lauder, Maggie Walker, and Sarah Sunshine—five women from Smithsonian collections who ran businesses and made history.
Mae Reeves (1912–2016)
A hat from Mae’s Millinery Shop. Image courtesy of the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.
In 1941, Mae Reeves moved from Grant, Georgia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of the Great Migration to pursue financial independence and economic opportunity. She secured a $500 loan in her own name from the Black-owned Citizens and Southern Bank and established Mae’s Millinery Shop at 1630 South Street.2 This made Reeves one of the first African American women to own a business in downtown Philadelphia. The quality and aesthetic appeal of Reeves’ hat designs brought in customers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. Mae’s Millinery Shop became so successful that Reeves reestablished her store in the bustling 60th Street Corridor. In addition to being a fashion and business pioneer, Reeves was also a civil rights activist. She was a member of the NAACP and used her store as a polling place.
Anna Sutherland Bissell (1846–1934)