eleven months, but only spent six months actively working in Switzerland. Nevertheless, her work was considered successful. Whitehouse reported her experiences in A Year as a Government Agent (1920). Later life In 1921, she bought the Buchan-Murphy Manufacturing Company, a leather business, renamed it the Whitehouse Leather Products Company, Inc., and reorganized it with herself as president. She managed the company for eight years, reducing the work week from 48 hours to 44 hours, among other changes. In 1925, she was elected a member of the Democratic County Committee from Manhattan's 15th Assembly District. The following year, she became Chairman of the Independent Women's Committee for Judge Wagner. She sold her leather company before the stock market crash of 1929. She died at her home in New York City on April 11, 1957. Legacy Her papers are archived at the Harvard University Library. Gallery References Further reading Tibor Grant, "Against All Odds: Vira B. Whitehouse and Rosika Schwimmer in Switzherland, 1918." American Studies International, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2002: 34-51 External links Papers, 1889-1957 Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. 1875 births 1957 deaths American birth control activists American suffragists sisters United States government officials