The Shop People
The Shop People
Liberty Eugenticus
Liberty Eugenticus, or “Mrs. Liberty,” was involved at the Exchange primarily throughout the 1970s as a board member, a time in which handmade quilts were the most popular item in the store. In meeting minutes recorded by secretary Katherine B. Witz from January 1977,...
Irene Smith
Irene Smith was a lawyer and teacher before becoming an owner of the revived Woman’s Industrial Exchange. Years after the Exchange closed in 2002, Irene opened the Woman’s Industrial Kitchen in 2011 to restore the environment and familiarity of the original Exchange,...
Lydia Wright
April 1974: 50th anniversary at the Exchange where Lydia Wright was gifted a corsage by the board of managers as an Easter gift to commemorate her anniversary. In December of 1975, it was decided that she would be gifted a hand-picked watch with her initials and...
Bessie Orphan
Bessie Faye Fletcher Orphan was born on November 19, 1911, in Princeton, West Virginia. Affectionately known as Mrs. Orphan, she was a well-known figure at the Exchange’s consignment shop. From February to April 1974, she was splitting part-time work at the shop as…
Rita Knox
1921 - July 6, 2005 Rita Marie Hegarty was born around 1921 and lived in the Baltimore area for 62 years, where she attended the now called Notre Dame of Maryland University. She was married to Elmer V. Knox. Rita was the manager of the Woman’s Industrial Exchange...
Wilhelmina “Willy” Godwin
Wilhelmina Godwin was born in 1910 to Charles Fischer Godwin and Lucia Fischer Godwin. She had a brother named John R. Godwin Jr. who she grew up with in Baltimore, Maryland. She attended public schools and completed up to two years of high school.
Pat Barnes
Pat Barnes was associated with the Woman’s Industrial Exchange during the 1990s. She worked in the gift shop and bakery and was a part-time bookkeeper.
Sources:
“1999 Employees Document.” Woman’s Industrial Exchange, 1999.
Raymond Harten
Raymond Harten was a shop employee at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange. He worked in maintenance and cleaning in Baltimore for eight years in the 1990s. Prior to working at the Exchange, he worked at Marconi’s restaurant in Baltimore.
Sources:
“1999 Employees Document.” Woman’s Industrial Exchange, 19