WIE Historical Timeline
Beginning of WIE
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Moved to Saratoga Street
Margaret Wilson Brown (Mrs. J. Harman) converted her victorian parlor to an Exchange.
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Moved to 85 N. Charles Street
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WIE Incorporates
The Woman’s Industrial Exchange was incorporated with twelve women on the board of managers (Mary N. Perry, Mary Stow, Isabella Tyson, Mary T. King, Anne T. Kirk, Helen M. Coale, Sophia G. Orem, Mary Leiper Thomas, Elizabeth R. Hopkins, Jane E. White, Annie A. Thompkins, and Leonice Josephine Steuart.)
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Moved to 33 North Charles Street
The new building was when the tea room/lunchroom was added as one of the Exchange’s services.
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Letter from Nellie Schley Fisher
A letter written in 1905 by Nellie Schley Fisher gives insight to the Exchange in the early 1900s.
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Building Additions
In 1910, Mrs. C.W. Bassett, as president of the Exchange, decided to build additions to the building.
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1920 - 1930
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1930 -1940
The Exchange observed the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1930.
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1950 -1960
The Exchange has a 36 person staff, which includes three cooks, as well as the board of managers and three-man advisory board.
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1960 -1970
In 1961, the famous chicken salad and tomato aspic cost $1.10.
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1970 -1980
Katharine Hepburn visited the Exchange and signed the guest book.
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1980 -1990
Jane and Michael Stern stopped in Baltimore to try the tomato aspic at the Exchange.
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1990 -2000
In 1993, The Exchange appeared in the film “Sleepless in Seattle” starring Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, and Rosie O’Donnell.
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2000 -2015
Senator Barbara A. Mikulski forced a $400,000 federal grant into the Senate budget language.
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Today
In June 2020, the board members of the Exchange stopped operating and the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center moved into the building. The consignment shop is now used by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center as an exhibit center and small event space. The exhibits and events honor Maryland women of the past and present, emphasizing the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center’s motto of “adding HERstory to HIStory to tell OUR story.” Today, the building of the Woman’s Industrial Exchange is owned and shared by the Marian House which is a nonprofit centered around helping homeless women and their children in need of housing and rehabilitative services. The Maryland Women’s Heritage Center still uses the consignment shop as their headquarters.