Alice Foote MacDougall (March 2, 1867 – February 10, 1945) was an American coffee wholesaler, restaurateur, and business owner. Born and raised in New York City, MacDougall was a member of New York gentry – her great grandfather was the mayor of New York City from 1821 to 1824. She began a coffee roasting-and-retail business in 1907, and eventually established several eateries around New York City. Early life MacDougall was born on May 2, 1867, in Washington Square, New York City, in her great-grandmother's home. MacDougall's father, Emerson Foote, was a Wall Street financer. Her mother was a housewife, the typically occupation of a married women at the time. MacDougall accompanied her father on several business trips to Europe where she was exposed to European-style restaurants. This is thought to be the inspiration for the European-style decor that would eventually adorn her eateries. Emerson Foote was an unsuccessful businessman. During MacDougall's childhood he experienced the bankruptcy of multiple business venture. As a result, MacDougall's family lost much of their fortune to Emerson Foote's business failings. Personal life Marriage At the age of 20, MacDougall married Allan MacDougall, a 34-year-old door-to-door salesman. However, the marriage was deeply unhappy. In her autobiography, Alice Foote MacDougall, the autobiography of a business woman, Alice described her marriage as “going "slowly, painfully, through the dark mazes of dreadful disillusionment.” The couple had three children; Gladys MacDougall, Allan MacDougall, and Don MacDougall. Alan struggled as a businessman. He worked as a coffee wholesaler; however, his business ventures proved largely unsuccessful. The MacDougalls saw their wealth deteriorate and their social status fall. In 1907, Allan fell ill. He eventually died and left his wife widowed and nearly penniless at the age of forty. She was forced to gain employment to support herself and her three young children. Social and Political Stances Alice Foote MacDougall's entrance into business and her subsequent bold career went against her stance as an anti-suffragist. She publicly declared herself a "mid-Victorian" and maintained that women should not have the right to vote or aspire to any other role besides a wife and mother. In December 1935, she sent a letter to the New York Times, stating that "(m)ost (of course not all) women are an intrusion in the orderly procession of commercial life. Untrained, unfitted, full of tradition, prejudices, and inhibitions, she is the fool who rushes in where wise men fear to