May 11, 2000 – The Emma J. Harvat and Mary E. Stach House located at 332 E. Davenport Street in Iowa City is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
With the women’s right to vote going into effect in 1920, new opportunities came forward for women in politics across the country. In 1922, Emma J. Harvat became an international celebrity when she was elected as, not only Iowa City’s first female mayor, but the first woman mayor of a United States municipality with a population exceeding 10,000!
In the late summer of 1913, Emma Harvat and May Stach opened a ladies’ ready-to-wear clothing store – Harvat and Stach – The Woman’s Shop – on the first floor of Iowa City’s new Jefferson Hotel. The store became an immediate success and as founders of the Iowa City Professional and Business Women League, Stach became the store’s expert on fashion, while Harvat ran the business.
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