Virginia Penny

Born on January 18, 1826, and dying on April 4, 1913, Virginia Penny was an American social reformer, economist, and writer remembered for studying women’s labor in unusual depth for her time. She is often described as one of the first people to systematically investigate women’s labor markets in the United States and Europe.

Penny is best known for How Women Can Make Money, Married or Single and The Employments of Women: A Cyclopaedia of Woman’s Work. To prepare this work, she reportedly spent several years traveling, visiting workplaces, and interviewing women workers and employers, then compiled information on hundreds of occupations, including pay, skills, and working conditions. That practical, research-driven approach made her work valuable to readers interested in women’s education, employment, and reform.

She was also active in broader reform movements, including women’s rights and labor organizing. Today, her writing stands out not just as advocacy, but as a rare record of how women actually earned a living in the 19th century.