American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants

Authored by Barbara B. Guerra & Marilyn J. Huset AWSCPA Past National Presidents AWSCPA History 75 Years 1 Introduction to AWSCPA History Table of Contents Seventy-five years ago, nine forward-thinking women gathered in Chicago to form an organization to help women certified public accountants (CPAs) gain a toehold in the profession and to go on to succeed in what was then a male-dominated field. Anna G. AWSCPA History Pre-1930s ..................................................4 Francis contacted Grace Schwartz Keats and the two of them invited other women CPAs in the Midwest area to attend a meeting at the Women’s Club in Chicago on January AWSCPA History 1930s .......................................................7 4, 1933. At this time, in the depths of the Great Depression, women encountered obstacles in gaining entrance to college accounting programs and attaining jobs as AWSCPA History 1940s .....................................................11 public accountants that would provide them with the experience necessary to obtain AWSCPA History 1950s .....................................................15 their public accounting certificates. These early women helped and encouraged each other to achieve success in the accounting profession and beyond. The organization AWSCPA History 1960s .....................................................18 grew quickly and has evolved throughout the years as women entered the accounting profession in greater numbers and as they became more accepted and supported by AWSCPA History 1970s .....................................................23 legislation. AWSCPA History 1980s .....................................................27 As we celebrate the foresight and great accomplishments of our founders and the AWSCPA History 1990s .....................................................30 many women who have succeeded them in the AWSCPA, we realize that many of the original goals have been met. Women are now able to enter the profession and gain AWSCPA History 2000-2008 ............................................. 35 certification with few barriers. However, women are still paid less than men and are proportionally less represented in the upper management ranks of accounting firms Sources ...............................................................................39 and companies. Today’s women are concerned with the issues of balancing their professional and personal lives, gender equity, and the glass ceiling. The AWSCPA is AWSCPA Past Presidents 1933-2008 ................................ 40 the only organization devoted exclusively to the support and professional development AWSCPA Affiliated Groups ..................................................58 of women CPAs and is a leader in addressing these concerns with in-depth support in four important areas: public awareness, networking, professional growth and advocacy. Individual Accomplishment Awards ...................................59 Its mission statement is: The American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA) is a national organization dedicated to serving all women CPAs. The AWSCPA provides a supportive environment and valuable resources for members to achieve their personal and professional goals through various opportunities including leadership, networking and will guide it into the future. education. We want to recognize and thank the amazing women who created the AWSCPA, those We are in awe of your talents AWSCPA History AWSCPA who led it through the intervening years and worked so hard to keep it vibrant, and the awesome women who lead it today and will guide it into the future. We are in awe of your talents and your dedication! and your dedication! 2 3 AWSCPA History – Pre-1930s AWSCPA History – Pre-1930s Who was the first woman accountant? accounting in 1889. For several years, she In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment instituted a Anthony began a seventy-year struggle to secure Some say that English gentlewomen who worked for Manning’s Yacht Agency in graduated federal tax on incomes. Also in 1913, the right to vote for women. During the Civil War, kept the books for their large estates were New York. Her clients included women’s the Federal Reserve Act established the Federal the war effort and movement for the abolition of the first women accountants. Others cite organizations, wealthy women and those in Reserve Board and in 1914 the Clayton Antitrust slavery overshadowed women’s suffrage. At the a woman mentioned in Benjamin Franklin’s fashion and business. Act established the Federal Trade Commission. end of the war, however, the government saw autobiography. Her husband was Franklin’s These bodies had an interest in financial reporting the suffrage of women and that of the Negro as partner in a Charleston, South Carolina 1930sOf course, a woman did not have to be a and auditing that led to the creation of official 1930stwo separate issues and it was decided that the printing firm. Franklin received irregular CPA to work in accounting. In 1870, the U.S. standards. A circular issued by the Federal Negro vote could produce the immediate political payments for his share of the profits but could Department of Labor, Women’s Division, Reserve Board described the essential information gain, particularly in the South, that the women’s not get a financial statement from the man. reported that women working as bookkeepers, required in a balance sheet and profit-and-loss vote could not. Abraham Lincoln declared, After the man’s death, his widow took over accountants and cashiers totaled 893 or 2.3 account to be in the credit file for commercial “This hour belongs to the Negro.” The women’s the business and sent quarterly statements percent of the total. By 1900, their number paper to be accepted for rediscount by the Federal suffrage movement gained momentum during the to Franklin prior to purchasing his interest had risen to 74,895 or 29.1 percent of the Reserve banks. And so accountants became more 1890’s and early 1900s. The U.S. involvement in in the business. Franklin recommended an total. In contrast, by 1910 only 13 women important in the business world. World War I in 1918 slowed down the suffrage education in accounting as useful for young were reported to be CPAs in the U.S. campaign as women pitched in for the war effort. women and their children, in case they would The “War to End All Wars” President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to be widowed. The Business World in Change World War I began with the June 28, 1914, pass what became, when it was ratified in 1920, These women entered a profession that was assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Nineteenth Amendment. It states “The right The first officially listed woman accountant growing in a business world undergoing the Austro-Hungarian throne, and soon much of of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be was Florence Crowley. She was listed as an massive change. As the U.S. emerged from Europe was in a state of open warfare. The United denied or abridged by the United States or by any accountant in New York City directories in the Civil War, its economy was primarily States initially stayed out of the conflict while State on account of sex.” 1797, 1798 and 1802. Ms. Crowley seems agriculture based. But industrialization began trying to broker a peace. After submarines sank to have been in public practice during that to take hold as big oil, steel mills and the seven U.S. merchant ships and the publication of The Roaring 20’s period, moving her office several times. railroads began to emerge in the late 1800s a German telegram outlining plans to join forces After World War I, normality returned to politics, It appears that the next women publicly and the country experienced enormous with Mexico to bring the U.S. into the war, President jazz music blossomed and the flapper redefined practicing accounting were Margaret and economic growth as industry began to Wilson called for war on Germany, which the U.S. modern womanhood. Flappers cut their hair, Viola Waring, who were listed as accountants overtake agriculture in financial importance. Congress declared on April 6, 1917. The United wore make-up, smoked, drank, danced, and voted. in New York. However, historical records can States had a small army, but it drafted four million During the war, while the men were away, women be incomplete and sometimes only initials Along with big business came big issues men and by summer 1918 was sending 10,000 fresh had, out of patriotism, aggressively entered the were used instead of first names. for stock investors and accountants alike. soldiers to France every day. Families were altered workforce. Having broken out of society’s structure, Fraud, creative accounting and the desire by the departure of so many men. With the death they found it very difficult to return. Besides, with But there’s no doubt about who was the first to present companies in their best light or absence of the primary wage earner, women almost a whole generation of young men having woman certified public accountant (CPA). caused inconsistencies between financial were forced into the workforce in unprecedented died in the war, almost a whole generation of young New York was the first state to enact licensure statements. Over-capitalization and stock numbers. At the same time, industry needed to women found themselves without possible suitors. legislation in 1896 and gave its first CPA exam speculation caused financial panics in 1873 replace the lost laborers

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