The New York Stock Exchange first allowed a woman to become a member in 1967, when Muriel Siebert joined the exchange.
Siebert was a pioneering Wall Street broker who purchased an NYSE seat and was elected to membership on December 28, 1967. She joined 1,365 male members and became the first woman to own a seat on the exchange. Her achievement was a milestone because NYSE membership conferred the right to trade directly on the exchange floor and participate in its member structure.
A common mix-up is the year 1943. During World War II, women were allowed onto the NYSE trading floor while many men were serving in the military, but that was not the same as becoming exchange members. Siebert's admission came more than two decades later. Jane R. Larkin became the second woman on the NYSE in 1970.
Siebert also founded Muriel Siebert & Co. and became the first woman to head an NYSE member firm. Her career helped open a traditionally male institution to more women in finance.