Norma Yaeger, Barrier-Breaking Stockbroker, Dies at 96

Norma Yaeger, who became a female stockbroker in the early 1960s and went on to found two securities firms as a pioneering woman in the overwhelmingly male financial world of that period, died on June 3 in Los Angeles.She was 96.She died at a hospital, said her daughter, Elysa Kaswan, who added that Ms.

Yaeger had been under treatment for a respiratory virus.Ms.Yaeger, then known as Norma Nahmias, was 32 and the mother of three children when she began her financial career in 1962 by getting a job at Hornblower & Weeks, a brokerage firm in New York.The New York Stock Exchange, hoping more women would invest in stocks, that year sponsored an educational film, “The Lady and the Stock Exchange,” starring Janet Blair.

Few women worked as stockbrokers at the time, but Hornblower and some other firms were starting to believe that female brokers might help them expand their clientele.Ms.Yaeger was not seeking to demolish barriers.

Her aim was to find a high-paying job to support her family.Her husband, Sam Nahmias, who worked as a cutter in garment factories and had recently been unemployed, wanted her to stay home and tend the children.

In a 2012 memoir, “Breaking Down the Walls,” she recalled his reaction to news that she had found a job that paid more than his: “You’re castrating me.”ImageIn 1962, Ms.Yaeger became the first woman to enroll in a training program at Hornblower & Weeks, a brokerage firm.

Her aim was not to demolish barriers but to find a high-paying job to support her family.Credit...Vesst PubWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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