Business Archives - Infinite Women

Osame Manago

Osame Nagata Manago was a picture bride who co-founded the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook, Hawai’i.

Yoshiko Yamanouchi

Yoshiko Yamanouchi (1895–1973) was an early Buddhist community leader, businesswoman, and amateur painter.

A prime example of entrepreneurial spirit, Susie Schmitt Hanson was a pioneer for Minnesota women in business. As the owner of one of Waconia’s longest-running businesses, she remains a prominent figure in the history of that town.

Emily Grey

Best known for initiating the effort to free an enslaved woman named Eliza Winston in 1860, she weathered mob violence for her efforts. She rebuilt her home and business after the incident and lived in Minneapolis for the remainder of her life.

Nina Clifford

Nina Clifford, a child of immigrants who evolved into the “richest woman of the underworld,” made a name for herself as an affluent sex worker who contributed to the buildup of St. Paul’s downtown Red Light District in the late 1800s. She invited other women to establish their businesses nearby while police sanctioned an environment in which vice could thrive.

Ida Dorsey

Employing the racial prejudices and fantasies of elite male clients once used against her, Ida Dorsey established herself as one of the Twin Cities’ most notorious madams, running multiple brothels between the 1880s and the 1910s.

Clara Lyle Boone

American composer, instructor, activist, and businesswoman

Jennie Shirreff

1800s Canadian nurse, businesswoman, and philanthropist

Sylvia Fine

Award-winning American lyricist, composer and producer

Ada Celeste Sweet

American reformer, pension agent and humanitarian