RACINE — March is Women's History Month — a time to celebrate the women of the past, but also those helping move society into the future.
Three women are at work shaping historic downtown Racine: Autumn Latimore, Ellen Bashore, and Amanda Cosgrove Paffrath. Each owns a business in the district, and each says the community they've built with other business owners is central to what they do.
WATCH: Women behind downtown Racine businesses are helping shape the future of the city's historic district
Latimore owns Stitched, a quilt shop on Sixth Street that opened in the past year. She says what her shop offers is about more than fabric.
"I've long believed that women are keepers of the culture," Latimore said.
She sees her business as a way to carry that culture forward.
"I believe that it's important that we carry things forward. So we pull things from the past, and we literally stitch them forward," Latimore said.
She also says she isn't doing it alone, highlighting the role other women business owners play in supporting and encouraging her in her own journey.
"It means so much to step into this space with these women. They are powerhouses; they are so incredibly supportive and willing to share," Latimore said.
Down the street from Stitched is Unraveled Creative Studio, which opened about a year-and-a-half ago. Ellen Bashore is one of the store's owners. She says having women-owned businesses represented in the district matters.
"I think it's just really great having that representation," Bashore said.
But Bashore says Unraveled is a space designed to welcome everyone.
"Here we want to make sure that it's inclusive, everyone can come do this, it's not just for women," Bashore said.
She says watching fellow business owners like Latimore open their doors has been motivating.
"Seeing Autumn open up Stitched, it's just really encouraging, and it feels really comforting that people can see the potential that we have," Bashore said.
And she's felt the support of legacy business owners downtown.
"It's been amazing," she said.
One of those legacy business owners is Amanda Cosgrove Paffrath. She owns Hot Shop Glass, but her roots in the district run deep — Hot Shop isn't her first business venture there.
"I opened Funky Hannah's bead store in '97, and I really knew that I wanted to be downtown because I wanted to be part of a community," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
She remembers visiting downtown as a child and feeling a draw to the area as an adult.
"I wanted to be someplace with history and creativity," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
Decades later, she reflects on what that commitment has meant.
"It was exciting to start the business down here and then continue with now Hot Shop Glass and be part of, you know, now almost a 30-year history of being in small business and being involved in helping support other small businesses and help move the district forward," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
She says the energy brought by newer businesses and the women behind them inspires her.
"I got inspired by Unraveled and by Stitched, because the beautiful stores they've created, the energy they have for their business, you know, we can take that and bring that to all of downtown," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
Across all three women, a common thread emerges: a belief in collaboration and inclusion.
"I think it's really important that everybody has a seat at the table and everybody has a voice," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
She says the support she received from women who came before her in downtown Racine made it possible to do what she does now.
"The women that came before me downtown were really supportive, and that's partly why I want to do the same thing," Cosgrove Paffrath said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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