author
Theresa Schmid McMahon
1878–1961
A pioneering economist and activist, she wrote about how industrial change reshaped women's lives and work. Her career joined scholarship with public action, especially in labor and social reform.
1 Audiobook
Women and economic evolution: or, The effects of industrial changes upon the status of women
by Theresa Schmid McMahon
About the author
Born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1878, she grew up on Mercer Island and went on to study at the University of Washington before earning a PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin in 1909. She became a professor at the University of Washington, where she taught economics and built a reputation as an outspoken public intellectual.
Her best-known book, Women and Economic Evolution, explored how industrialization changed the status of women, linking economic systems to everyday life in a clear, ambitious way. Beyond her writing, she was active in labor and reform causes, including advocacy connected to workers' rights during the Depression.
She died in Seattle in 1961, but her work still stands out for treating economics as something deeply connected to social justice, family life, and women's history.