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Tillie Lewis opens cannery for American-grown Italian tomatoes

July 13, 1935

Tillie Lewis, born Myrtle Ehrlich, in Brooklyn, NY, on July 13, 1901, left high school after one year to work in a wholesale grocery.

Estelle Joan Sommers takes over Capezio

June 1, 1964

Estelle Sommers got her start in the dance world when she transformed her first husband's Cincinnati piece-goods retail store into a dancewe

Jennie Grossinger Day!

June 16, 1968

Jennie Grossinger, who helped make the Catskills resort Grossinger's into the most famous retreat of its kind, was born in Austria on June

"New York Times" profiles entrepreneur Lillian Vernon

April 26, 1978

In a New York Times profile published on April 26, 1978, Lillian Vernon was described as "the first lady of mail order catalogues," a designation she had earned through more than two decades of entrepreneurship and steady growth of her eponymous business.

Frieda Caplan founds innovative specialty produce company

April 2, 1962

If kiwis, spaghetti squash, and jicama are familiar sights in your local grocery store, you probably have entrepreneur Frieda Caplan to thank.

Ruth Mosko Handler unveils Barbie Doll

March 9, 1959

At the International American Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959, inventor Ruth Mosko Handler unveiled one of the most loved, emulated, and

Brothel-keeper Polly Adler jailed

March 5, 1935

When Polly Adler died in 1962, she was probably America's best-known brothel keeper. She had come a long way from her hometown of Yanow, Belarus.

Birth of Ida Cohen Rosenthal, co-founder of Maidenform

January 9, 1886

Ida Cohen Rosenthal, co-founder of Maidenform, the first company to make modern bras, was born on January 9, 1886 in Tsarist Russia.

Medieval Spain

Written histories of Jews in medieval Spain rarely include women, so one must seek alternate sources. Marital status was the frequent topic of rabbinic responsa. Some Jewish women made their own income as merchants and moneylenders. Inheritance laws were problematic for Jewish women – disputes were settled in both Jewish and non-Jewish courts.

Ida Cohen Rosenthal

Ida Cohen Rosenthal not only created the modern bra, she also helped found Maidenform, Inc., and make it the most successful bra manufacturer in the world.

Rosanna Dyer Osterman

Rosanna Dyer Osterman’s supplies helped travelers explore the western frontier, but it was her life-saving efforts as a nurse for which she was best remembered.

Florence Zacks Melton

A philanthropist and visionary innovator and a lay leader for over fifty years, Florence Zacks Melton helped build institutions that improved the quality and broadened the scope of Jewish education throughout North America.

Regina Margareten

Regina Margareten was hailed as the “Matzah Queen” and the “matriarch of the kosher food industry” for both her business sense and her innovations to improve the quality of her products.

Ruth Mosko Handler

Best known as the inventor of the Barbie doll, Ruth Mosko Handler combined her marketing genius with her husband Elliot Handler’s creative designs to form the toy company Mattel, Inc., in 1939. Her battles with cancer later in her career led her to create the company Nearly Me, which developed prosthetics for breast cancer survivors.

Happy 50th birthday, Barbie

Judith Rosenbaum

I have to admit that I didn't grow up with Barbies. Born to a feminist mom in the 1970s, I only had Skipper, Barbie's flat-chested cousin. But as much as Barbie's boobs kind of frightened me (and still do), Skipper just didn't have her charisma.

"The best goddamn madam in all America"

Judith Rosenbaum

I've been meeting a lot of interesting Jewish women lately. And all without leaving my computer! No, I'm not trolling JDate or chatrooms for a hot date (my life is complicated enough with a husband and two kids, thank you very much) -- I've been wandering through the couple thousand entries in the new online Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia! 

Eva Schocken

As the daughter of Salman Schocken, founder of Schocken Books, and later as editor and president, Eva Schocken pushed the publishing company to the forefront of both education and women’s studies.

Flora Sassoon

Born in Bombay into the legendary Sassoon dynasty, Flora (Farha) Sassoon lived a colorful life in India and then in England as a businesswoman, philanthropist, famed hostess, and Jewish scholar, taking on many public religious roles that were unusual for an Orthodox woman of her time.

Rachel Salamander

Rachel Salamander is a writer, scholar, editor, and publisher. Born in 1949 in a DP camp in Germany, she has written and published multiple works about German Jewry and DP camps after World War II. In 1982, Salamander established the Literaturhandlung in Munich, a prominent bookshop and meeting place specializing in Jewish literature.

Helena Rubinstein

Helena Rubinstein built a global beauty empire by selling face cream to Depression–era housewives and teaching makeup tricks to film vamp Theda Bara.

Rothschild Women

The Rothschild family expanded from the mid-1700s to the present day. The women of the family were known for being leaders in philanthropy and business, as well as exceptional hostesses.

Nettie Rosenstein

Nettie Rosenstein was a twentieth-century fashion designer and entrepreneur who was instrumental in the popularization of the “little black dress” in America.

Sophie Sonia Rosenberg

Sophia Sonia Rosenberg was the creator and owner of Sonia Gowns Inc, an elegant dress company. After immigrating to New York in 1908, she worked for various dress companies and entered a business alliance with Gloria Vanderbilt in 1935.

Heather Reisman

Heather Reisman was possibly the most powerful person in Canada’s book publishing industry at the turn of the twenty-first century and certainly the country’s most prominent Jewish businesswoman. In addition to charitable giving, Reisman has shown sensitivity to Jewish concerns in the conduct of her business.

Poland: Early Modern (1500-1795)

Polish Jewish Women played a complex role in their society and culture during the early Modern Period. This role was usually gender segregated, but upon a closer look, was more gender flexible than one might think.

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