leopard

New York Times headline, 2 January 1915: "Woman Taxi Driver Invades Broadway; New York's First Feminine Chauffeur Starts Business on New Year's Day.; Men Rivals are Friendly; She Wears a Leopard-Skin Hat and Stole--Gets Big Tip from Initial Fare." Story says of the rest of her ensemble: Even before it was een that the driver was wearing a skirt, her appearance attracted attention. She wore on her head a huge round hat of leopard skin, and around her neck and over her shoulders the yellow and black spotted pelt of the same animal...She had on a brown skirt that came down just below the tops of her high tan boots, and a brown jacket. Her forearms were lost in black leather gloves." Wilma K. Russey had a chauffeur's license, and was employed as a mechanic by Dalton's Garage at 354 W. 50th St. She's mentioned in this 1997 MA thesis, Kimberly Berry, "The Experience and Expression of Gender among Women Taxi Drivers": www.taxi-library.org/nolady.htm She also turns up in Virginia Scharff, Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age (UNM Press 1999): 85.

Nice photo of a woman taxi driver.....

The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, January 24, 1915, SECTION SEVEN, Image 74 printed this photo with the caption: "New York has a chauffeuse. She is Wilma K. Russey and she is the first woman to be licensed as a cab driver in the big city. Miss Russey was once an aerial worker in a circus and on the vaudeville circuit. She is thoroughly acquainted with the mechanics of the car and looks after her own maachine. She says she is not going to take tips - a fact which should make her automobile popular." oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1915-01-24/ed-1/se...

B-59: Thanks! We will include more information about Russey next time we update the description.

www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102306486

I think that that is actually a leopard. Could be wrong, but the face looks too large to be a cheetah.

It would pay to change the species of this cat to "African Leopard" (Panthera pardus) this is not a cheetah.

Wife of (Louis) Aston Knight (1873–1948), a French-born American artist noted for his paintings of landscapes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Aston_Knight). Aston's father, a painter as well, was already named Ridgway, see The Salt Lake tribune., February 12, 1911, Page 19 with a extensive article about the Knight family. According to wikipedia, she was Caroline Ridgeway Brewster. She had two sons, Ridgway Brewster Knight and George William Knight, and a daughter, Diane Knight Todd. records.ancestry.com/Caroline_Ridgway_Brewster_records.as... says she was Caroline Ridgway Brewster, born in Rochester, New York, USA on 21 Sep 1882 to Elisha Franklin Brewster and Sarah Ridgway Macy and had 4 children. She passed away on 26 Jun 1959. Ridgway Brewster Knight was born in Paris, France on 12 Jun 1911 and died on 14 Aug 2001 in Le Touquet, France (records.ancestry.com/Ridgway_Brewster_Knight_records.ashx...)

The New York Herald ran an almost identical picture of their arrival from France on 12/15/1915 aboard the SS Espagne of the French Line. fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2014/New%20York%20NY%20Herald...