Woman in a man's world: the career of Mary G. Roebling

Abstract

Mary Roebling (1905-1994) was the first woman in the United States to serve as president of a major commercial bank, the Trenton Trust Company, and the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange. Apart from her impressive business career, Roebling promoted equal rights for women, served as a civilian advisor to the military, and assisted numerous charitable and non-profit organizations in her native Trenton. The Mary Roebling Papers are significant because little research has been done on women in banking or business and archival sources on women in banking are fairly limited. Her papers also constitute an important source for research on economic and business history, New Jersey history, the study of elites, and urban studies. Carmen Godwin assisted her mentor, Dr. Fernanda Perrone in drafting the following biographical sketch as part of her work as a Rutgers Undergraduate Research Fellow. This sketch is based on materials found in the Mary Roebling Papers held at Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.