Orphaned in 1823 at age six, Elizabeth Gloucester was taken care of by a Philadelphia preacher alongside his TEN other children. She worked as a domestic servant - but she also observed the ins and outs of financial affairs.
Eventually, Gloucester moved to New York and had eight children of her own. And to provide for her growing family, she used her financial knowledge to open two successful second-hand stores and a furniture store. That was the first lesson: never turn down a lucrative business opportunity.
With this success, she opened a boarding house - and eventually ran 15 of them! Never forgetting her roots, she used her growing wealth to host anti-slavery organizations. She fundraised for a Black children’s orphanage.
She also donated to famed radical abolitionist John Brown, hosted Frederick Douglass, and supported freedmen’s associations.
Her crowning achievement was purchasing and running Remsen boarding house, which housed wealthy clients - who didn’t always appreciate being hosted by a Black woman. She dismissed the discrimination - they still had to pay her!
Although excessive wealth isn’t the end goal, Gloucester was worth the equivalent of millions at her death. And by ignoring what racists had to say about her, Gloucester took their money and was able to support anti-slavery and feminist causes. We can all learn a lesson or two from that!