Bella Abzug

1920-1998

Abzug was a powerful organizer, speaker and legislator who pressed for women's rights, peace, and civil rights. Abzug became known as Battling Bella or Hurricane Bella. Born, raised, and educated in New York City, she became a lawyer with a special interest in labor and civil rights. As a young woman lawyer, in the 1940s, Abzug discovered that she was routinely ignored or overlooked; and, in response, she began wearing hats which did seem to win her more respect. Hats became her trademark. Elected to Congress in 1970 as a Democrat to represent a Manhattan district, Abzug was the first Jewish woman elected to the House of Representatives. Her campaign slogan was "This Woman Belongs in the House." She served three terms before resigning to run for the Democratic party nomination for New York Senate, an election she lost. She was a founder of the Women's Strike for Peace and the National Women's Political Caucus in the 1960s, and opposed U.S. military intervention in Vietnam. While in Congress, she served on numerous government committees and presidential commissions, and was co-author of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts. In 1976 she gave up her seat in Congress to run for the U.S. Senate, but was unsuccessful. In 1977, she headed the first National Conference on Women in Houston, Texas. In 1978, she presided over the National Advisory Committee on Women until she was fired by President Jimmy Carter for criticism of the administration's economic policies. However, she continued to be politically active and attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Global Forum of Women conference in Dublin in 1992, and the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

Source: Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, Jewish Virtual Library