Hetty Green “The Witch of Wall Street” Original Brown Brothers Photo – Wedding Day

Henrietta “Hetty” Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) was an American financier and businesswoman hailed as “the richest woman in America” (during the Gilded Age. At her peak, her fortune exceeded $100 million (over $3 billion today).

Admired by those who knew her as the “Queen of Wall Street,” she earned her fortune through disciplined, conservative investments and by lending money, often at fair rates to financiers and cities during financial crises. Operating in a world dominated by men, she maintained her independence, avoided lavish society life, and shunned extravagance. Her financial acumen helped stabilize Wall Street during the Panic of 1907, when she extended credit as banks failed. Despite her brilliance, Green’s frugality and austere appearance earned her the tabloid nickname “the Witch of Wall Street.”

Known for her frugality, she famously wore the same black dress and avoided unnecessary expenses. Though caricatured as miserly, modern views portray her as a pragmatic, self-reliant investor whose restraint and foresight set her apart from the reckless opulence of her era’s elite.

Despite her stingy reputation, she was a master strategist who lent money to cities and businessmen during crises, often securing huge profits. Hetty Green’s legacy endures as one of America’s earliest and most formidable female financiers, a paradox of ruthless thrift and unmatched financial brilliance.

Sylvia Wilks (born Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green, January 7 1871 – February 5 1951) was heir to the fortune of her mother Hetty Green (“the Witch of Wall Street”) and, following her brother’s death, became one of the wealthiest women in the U.S. She married Matthew Astor Wilks in 1909, maintained a strong fortune and philanthropic presence, and left an estate of nearly US$95 million at her death.

Matthew Astor Wilks (March 3 1844 – July 9 1926) was a New York socialite of independent means, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, and prominent in Gilded Age high society. He built the “Wilks Building” on Wall Street in the 1880s and married Sylvia Green in 1909 at age 63

Offered is an original 5” x  8” original photograph stamped on the back by Brown Brothers (this is a 1940s print taken off an original negative).  This is a photograph of Hetty Green with her daughter and son-in-law at Sylvia’s wedding.  This is the photo used for Sylvia’s Wikipedia page.

Any vintage photographs of Green are a rare sight to be seen!