Sophie Masloff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 56thMayor of Pittsburgh | |
| In office May 6, 1988 – January 3, 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Caliguiri |
| Succeeded by | Tom Murphy |
| President of thePittsburgh City Council | |
| In office January 4, 1988[1] – May 6, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Ben Woods |
| Succeeded by | Ben Woods(Acting)[a] |
| Member of thePittsburgh City Council | |
| In office April 27, 1976 – May 6, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Amy Ballinger |
| Succeeded by | Duane Darkins |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sophie Friedman (1917-12-23)December 23, 1917 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 17, 2014(2014-08-17) (aged 96) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jack Masloff m. 1939–1991 (his death)[2] |
| Children | 1 |
| a.^ As the Council's President Pro Tempore, Woods declared himself Acting Council President following Masloff's ascension to the office of Mayor.[3] | |
Sophie Masloff (néeFriedman; December 23, 1917 – August 17, 2014) was an American politician. A long-time member of theDemocratic Party and civil servant, she was elected to thePittsburgh City Council and later served as the mayor ofPittsburgh from 1988 to 1994. She was the first and to date only woman and the firstJew to hold that office.[4]
Masloff was bornSophie Friedman on December 23, 1917[5] toRomanian Jewish parents Jennie and Louis Friedman in theHill District ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, an insurance salesman, died when she was two years old. She had two sisters and a brother from her mother's previous marriage. She spoke onlyYiddish until she began attending elementary school.[6] She graduated fromFifth Avenue High School in 1935, and began a job as clerk in theAllegheny County Court of Common Pleas in 1938, where she stayed for 38 years.[5][7]
Masloff was elected to the Pittsburgh City Council in 1976. As one of two females on council in the 1970s she was often witness to CouncilwomanMichelle Madoff's colorful arguments. After a years long fight by Madoff to have the one restroom that was available to City Council at the Pittsburgh City Hall redesigned to be used in a uni-sex fashion Masloff was invited to a "toilet party" by Madoff to celebrate her success. Masloff did not attend, later commenting to the press: "What the hell do I care about her toilet? I got more important things to do."[8]
In January 1988, Masloff was elected president of the city council. Just four months later, mayorRichard Caliguiri died in office on May 6, 1988. According to the city charter, the city council president stood first in the line of succession, so Masloff automatically became mayor.
Masloff served out the remainder of Caliguiri's term, and was unopposed in a bid for a full term in November 1989. She was the first woman and the first Jew to hold the post.[9] She once referred to the rock bandThe Who as "The How,"[10] among many other rehearsed malapropisms.[11]
Masloff declined to run for a second full term in the 1993 election and retired to her home in Pittsburgh'sSquirrel Hill neighborhood in 1994. After stepping down as mayor, she served as aPresidential Elector for Pennsylvania in 1996 and was a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention from Pennsylvania in 2000 and 2004.[14] She also appeared in advertisements forBruegger's and Schneider's Dairy.[15]
In 2007 a street nearPNC Park was namedSophie Masloff Way in honor of Masloff at her 90th birthday.[7] On September 13, 2011 Pennsylvania GovernorTom Corbett was on hand at thePittsburgh Zoo as a seal was named for Masloff.[16] Masloff died ofnatural causes on the morning of August 17, 2014, at the Center for Compassionate Care inMt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.[17][18]
A new fireboat, acquired for Pittsburgh's fire department in 2017, wasnamed in honor of Masloff.[19]
Mayor Bill Peduto named the boat to honor the late Sophie Masloff, the city's only female mayor and a former city councilwoman from Squirrel Hill.'A boat should always be named after a woman, and there's no greater woman who was a leader for city government than Mayor Masloff,' Peduto said.'There really wasn't any question, if we were naming it for a woman, which woman we should name it for.'
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Pittsburgh 1988–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Pittsburgh City Council | ||
| Preceded by Ben Woods | President of thePittsburgh City Council 1988 | Succeeded by Ben Woods1 Acting |
| Preceded by Amy Ballinger | Member of thePittsburgh City Council 1976–1988 | Succeeded by Duane Darkins |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. As the Council's President Pro Tempore, Woods declared himself Acting Council President following Masloff's ascension to the office of Mayor | ||
