by Ann Varner
Who was the first woman stockbroker who demanded and got the right to join her male trainees on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange?
Answer: Norma Yaegar
Norma Yaeger was born in 1930 in New York City. As most women did in the 1950’s, Norma married young and started a family right away. She relied on her husband to support their family. When Norma’s husband lost his job, Norma decided she wanted to work in stock exchange and enrolled in the Hornblower and Weeks Inc. stockbroker training program in 1962. Not only was Norma the first woman to graduate a stockbroker training program, Norma fought to have equal pay as well as walk on the New York Stock Exchange floor – was the first woman to do so. Norma remarried after her divorce and moved to California. In 1981, she started her own brokerage firm, Yaeger Securities. She had licenses with many different exchanges. If you are interested in knowing more about this trailblazing woman, she has written a book called “Breaking Down the Walls”.