100 Years Ago This Week: July 24-31

From The Indianapolis Times, Thursday, July 29, 1915: Given an opportunity, women would be just as successful in business as men, is the opinion of Indianapolis business woman Miss Eldena Lauter, secretary-treasurer of the H. Lauter Furniture Manufacturing Co. She is one of two women in the country to hold so high a position in a concern of this kind. The other also is an Indiana woman. Miss Lauter, who with her brother Alfred Lauter, president of the company, runs the business of this concern which has a workforce of between 400 and 500 men. The company is one of the largest in the country, and Miss Lauter has a thorough knowledge of the business from the ground up. “Why shouldn’t women be as successful in business as men?” asked this astute young woman. “They have brains and ability.”