Rose Cook Small was a businesswoman who built Bluebird Foods Inc. into the largest meat-processing business in the United States.
She sold produce on the street as a child to help support her family, and she dropped out of school before finishing the tenth grade.
The new store was destroyed by fire in 1937, and Cook used her engagement and wedding rings as collateral for a loan to rebuild it.
Her husband died in 1950, and Rose continued to operate the business, learning all facets of meatpacking and meat processing.
[1] In 1973, Fortune listed Small as one of just 11 women among the United States' 6,500 highest-paid corporate officers and directors, then defined by an annual pay level of $30,000 or more.