University of Hartford
Emeriti Association
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The Life of Beatrice Fox Auerbach
Professor
Emeritus Virginia Hale, Co-Chair of the Emeriti Association, has
written a
biography of Beatrice Fox Auerbach, a woman whose name is ubiquitous on
the
University of Hartford campus. At the October 2008 meeting of the
Association,
Virginia spoke about the life and times of this extraordinary woman.
From
1938 to 1965, Beatrice Fox Auerbach was chief executive of
G. Fox & Company, Hartford’s premier retail outlet, and the sixth
largest
privately owned department store in the country. She was a pioneer in
labor
relations. Among her innovations was the establishment of a 5-day
work
week, and employee medical and retirement plans; she was the first in
U.S. retailing
to hire blacks in other than menial jobs and she provided advancement
opportunities for women.
She was famously generous to the arts, health services, education and civic causes. Her name appears on three buildings on our own campus. But she was far more than her public persona.
A grandmother of twelve, at the age of sixty, Beatrice Auerbach began a series of trips which took her to all parts of the world. Personal diaries and correspondence and the recollections of friends, family and associates open a window on the life of Beatrice Fox Auerbach who, when asked for interviews often responded, “Don’t write about me as a business woman; call me a woman in business”.
of Mrs. Roosevelt's address to the Service Bureau for Women's Organizations, founded by Mrs. Auerbach
Read a chapter of the
book from
the publisher’s web site by clicking here.
Order this book from XLibris, the publisher, by clicking here.
See more pictures from the book
by clicking here.
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