Potter, Virginia (1857-1937)

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Woodrow Wilson Foundation

National Conference of Charities and Corrections Conference Program Draft, March 18, 1909

Charles Allen Prosser to Jane Addams, October 1, 1913

Cleo Murtland to Jane Addams, October 6, 1913

Virginia Potter to Jane Addams, October 5, 1921

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Birth Date

1857

Death Date

1937-10-26

Birthplace

New York

Biographical Text

Virginia Potter, daughter of a New York Congressman, dedicated her life to helping the working woman. Starting in 1885, she became involved with the New York League of Girls' Clubs. Around the same time, Potter was appointed the founding secretary of the League of Women Workers and would later become treasurer. She also went on to be the president of the organization's New York League in 1897. The Committee on the Work and Wages of Women in New York City then formed as a branch of this League and Potter sat as a Chairman. In 1890, she co-founded and was the designer for the Children's Dressmaking Company. Potter was the creator of the Manhattan Trade School, where girls were trained in a variety of ways in preparation for the work world. The Board of Education took over the institution in 1911. In 1910, Potter opened the Virginia Hotel in Manhattan, which was "tipless" and meant to serve as a home exclusively for working girls. She also founded and was president of the Department Store Education Association, which, starting in 1915 with the Board of Education, sponsored multiple classes of women to receive certificates in business. Potter was an officer to this project in 1916 and, in the same year, participated in the Women's Democratic Committee.

Potter died in 1937.