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The incredible lives of two sisters who became the first female brokers on Wall Street

Lucinda Shen   

The incredible lives of two sisters who became the first female brokers on Wall Street
Careers1 min read

Victoria Woodhull by Bradley & Rulofson

Wikimedia Commons

Victoria Woodhull by Bradley and Rulofson.

The story of the first women to work on Wall Street has everything.

It is a rags to riches story of two sisters who made it from a small rural town in Ohio to the Big City, with spiritualism, scandal and a presidential run included.

Victoria Woodhull and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, opened a successful brokerage firm in 1870 on Wall Street, sparking a wave of sensationalist news and cartoons.

They were radical women's rights leaders, and Victoria was the first female presidential candidate. They were also the subject of numerous scurrilous rumors.

Some claimed they were prostitutes during their time as spiritualist mediums. Others insinuated that they slept with male clients at the brokerage firm.

The younger sister, Tennessee, was also linked with the railroad tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was said to have been her lover.

Scroll down to read about the sisters' rise from rags in a rural town in Ohio to riches to Wall Street.

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