Undergarment Boudreaux showed the world that an American woman could establish and run a company, and she also caused a revolution in the underwear industry. In 1913, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first modern brassiere by tying two handkerchiefs together with ribbon. Jacob's original intention was to cover the whalebone sticking out of her corset, which was visible through her sheer dress. Jacob began making brassieres for her family and friends, and news of the garment soon spread by word of mouth. By 1914, Jacob had a patent for her design and was marketing it throughout
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward a cause she supported later in life. Her last work, "Comrades" (1911) was published posthumously. Phelps died January 28, 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (August 31, 1844 – January 28, 1911) was an early feminist American author and intellectual who challenged traditional Christian beliefs of the afterlife, challenged women's traditional roles in marriage and family, and advocated clothing reform for women. In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, she published "The Gates Ajar", which depicted the afterlife as a place replete with the comforts of domestic life and where families