I was one of the recipients of the Dean's Award for Summer Research from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study for the Summer of 2017. I proposed an in depth look at the female business community in Block Island, Rhode Island, and how this had developed and changed over the last fifty years as the island became more populated and, arguably, more gentrified. Despite the island being an incredibly matriarchal society where women dominate the industries that tourists are most privy to (hotels and lodging, shops, and restaurants) in a place where much of the overall income is dominated by seasonal tourism, the wage gap between genders was quite large.

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For my project, I was able to spend about two weeks on Block Island at the very beginning of their summer season. There, I interviewed and profiled a number of women (both lifelong residents and those who had more recently migrated to the island) who owned and operated businesses or held high positions in the community in government or medial professions. Below, you will find their stories told in their own voices through audio clips. You will discover the issues that these women have faced in sustaining lives on the island, as well as the problems that they believe future women moving to the island will handle as Block Island grows and changes. You will hear about their views on what roles women play in the Block Island society and how that has grown and developed. However, most importantly, I hope you will feel exactly how I felt during my travels there: that this is a community of love, respect, and genuine consideration for one another, and that the women will continue to support each other and find new solutions to problems, regardless of how they arise or are complicated by the effects by a wave of "gentrification."

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Thank you to all of those who allowed me to speak with them, and thank you to Gallatin for supporting this research. Enjoy.