Breaking Down the Walls

Young women of the 21st century have choices: They can marry, or they can elect not to. They can attend college to work in the industry of their choice, or do neither of the above. Women in the workforce have made strides in this century, but in order to continue on that momentum, it’s important to understand where they came from.

In the 1960s, the stock exchange was no place for a woman. And Wall Street wasn’t ready for Norma Yaeger.

Norma, a woman who stepped into the male-dominated stockbroker world of Wall Street in 1962 and never looked back, puts 50 years of women’s rights into perspective in her courageous new biography, Breaking Down the Walls: 50 Courageous and Successful Years at the Forefront of the Women’s Movement.

In the 1950s, women were expected to marry young, have children, and be dependent on their husbands for a comfortable life and financial security. Norma Yaeger did just that.

But sometimes things go awry and husbands fail to provide. And that’s where Norma separates from the pack.

Wall Street wasn’t ready for her. Women weren’t allowed to step foot on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“Glass Ceiling” was on a distant shore, and equal pay was a thing of fairy tales. Norma fought for equal pay for equal work, and got it.

Breaking Down the Walls is the fascinating account of Norma’s wits, commandeering will power, and fight for equal pay and the rights that paved the way for women’s rightful place in the workforce. It’s a celebration of one and of many, honoring women everywhere.