[2] In the fall of 1926, Edith Halpert, inspired by the art scene she encountered during her stay in France, decided to establish a platform in the United States where American artists could have similar opportunities.
[3] In 1926, with funds from with position as an executive at the S. W. Straus & Company investment bank, Halpert, alongside her friend Berthe Kroll Goldsmith, inaugurated Our Gallery in Manhattan at 113 West 13th Street.
The first notable occupant of 113 West 13th Street was Henry Jarvis Raymond, a young Whig journalist who, along with his wife, began raising their first son in the building within a year of its construction.
Notably, during World War II, when the Japanese American painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi faced classification as an enemy alien, the gallery organized an exhibition of his paintings in 1942.
[11][12] In 1934, Halpert organized the "Mile of Art" exhibition at Radio City Music Hall with the support of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Nelson Rockefeller to assist artists struggling during the Great Depression.