June 1 – 7
Jun. 1, 1967
Margaret Fogarty Rudkin dies. In 1937, Rudkin founded Pepperidge Farm in her kitchen. Her first product was a natural whole wheat bread. As demand grew, she took over the garage then moved into a dedicated bakery. Campbell Soup Company bought Pepperidge Farm in 1960 for $28 million.
Jun. 2, 1997
Edythe Meserand dies. Meserand was assistant news director at New York radio station WOR where she produced special features and documentaries. During World War II she ran the department, overseeing the work of seventeen men. Meserand was one of the founders of American Women in Radio and Television and served as the group’s first national president. She retired from radio in 1952 and started her own advertising agency.
Jun. 3, 1920
Betty Lee Hunt is born. She was a publicist and producer who started her own firm, Betty Lee Hunt Associates, in 1950.
Jun. 4, 2004
Louise Quarles Lawson dies. In 1975 she became president the Illinois Federal Savings and Loan Assoc. (IFSLA). The next year she merged it with another S&L, creating the Illinois Service Federal S&L Association, one of the country’s largest Black-owned savings institutions. She was CEO. Her career in banking began in 1946 when she took a clerk’s job at IFSLA. Rising through the ranks, she was appointed to the bank’s board in 1963 and named managing officer in 1965.
Jun. 5, 1848
Susan Stuart Frackelton is born. She was a ceramics artist and founder of the Frackelton Pottery.
Jun. 6, 1876
Rose Yates Forrester is born. She worked as a field agent for the US Railroad Administration and later served as a district president for the Women’s Trade Union League.
Jun. 7, 1967
Dorothy Parker dies. Parker was a freelance writer, poet, and screenwriter who is remembered for her caustic wit and her participation in the Algonquin Round Table.
Last week in women’s business history
May 25, 1945
Mabel Z. Mollison dies. Mollison was one of the first Black women to serve as a bank executive. Between 1902 and 1908, she was head cashier of the Lincoln Savings Bank of Vicksburg (MS). She later moved to Chicago and worked as a stenographer and a caterer.
May 26, 2002
Frances Ireland Marshall dies. Ireland Marshall was a magician, small business owner, and writer. Her first husband, magician Laurie Ireland, founded a small magicians’ supply shop, L.L. Ireland Magic Co., in Chicago in 1926. Frances joined the business as a secretary in 1931 and married Ireland in 1940. In addition to the business, she developed her own magic act, specializing in children’s programs, and wrote articles and books on magic. When her husband died in 1954, Frances continued operating Ireland Magic Co. Her second husband, magician Jay Marshall, joined the business which was later renamed Magic Inc. Customers have included Penn and Teller, David Copperfield, and Harry Blackstone, Sr. and Jr.
May 27, 1818
Amelia Jenks Bloomer is born. She was the publisher of the first newspaper for members of the Ladies’ Temperance Society, the Lily.
May 28, 1981
Mary Lou Williams dies. Williams was a renown pianist and composer who created her own music label and publishing company—Mary Records and Cecelia Music.
May 29, 1924
Juanita M. Moody is born. She was an intelligence analyst and manager with the National Security Agency.
May 30, 1914
Mary A. Burke dies. Burke was a noted horsewoman who owned La Siesta Ranch near San Jose, CA. When a series of ranch foremen were fired by Burke’s husband for inattention and poor-quality work, Mary Burke took over running ranch operations.
May 31, 1997
Jewel Lafontant Mankarious dies. The first Black woman to graduate from the University of Chicago Law School, she formed a private law firm with her first husband. Lafontant Mankarious also served as deputy solicitor general of the United States and was a member of the corporate boards of Mobil, TWA, and Revlon.
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