The Richest Woman in America: Book Talk

During the Gilded Age, New York’s millionaires included Carnegies, Vanderbilts, Morgans and Rockefellers — and Hetty Green. Fiercely independent and frugal, Green was a financial genius with a long-term investment strategy that sustained her through panics and crises. At the time of her death in 1916 she was worth $100 million, the equivalent of more than $2 billion today. Green was the subject of daily gossip and innuendos; and her importance as an American financier has been largely forgotten. Join us for a lively evening with Janet Wallach, author of a new book about Green, The Richest Woman in America, and Museum Trustee James A. Lebenthal, Director of Public Affairs, Lebenthal & Co. LLC. They will explore the improbable and instructive story of Hetty Green, her life, and how Wallach has crafted the pieces she found into an enormously engaging narrative.