Bella Abzug | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Abzug in 1978 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Leonard Farbstein |
| Succeeded by | Ted Weiss |
| Constituency | 19th district (1971–1973) 20th district (1973–1977) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bella Savitsky (1920-07-24)July 24, 1920 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 31, 1998(1998-03-31) (aged 77) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Arlene Stringer-Cuevas (cousin) Scott Stringer (cousin) |
| Education | Hunter College (BA) Columbia University (LLB) Jewish Theological Seminary |
Bella Abzug (/ˈæbzʊɡ/; néeSavitzky; July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in thewomen's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such asGloria Steinem,Shirley Chisholm, andBetty Friedan to found theNational Women's Political Caucus.[1] She was a leading figure in what came to be known asecofeminism.[2]
In 1970, Abzug's first campaign slogan was, "This woman's place is in the House—theHouse of Representatives."[3] She was later appointed to co-chair the National Commission on the Observance ofInternational Women's Year created by PresidentGerald Ford's executive order, presided over the1977 National Women's Conference, and led PresidentJimmy Carter's National Advisory Commission for Women.[4] Abzug was a founder of the Commission for Women's Equality of theAmerican Jewish Congress.[5]
Bella Savitzky was born on July 24, 1920, in New York City.[6] Both of her parents wereYiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants fromChernihiv,Russian Empire (now Ukraine).[7][8][9] Her mother, Esther (née Tanklevsky or Tanklefsky), was a homemaker who immigrated fromKozelets in 1902.[7] Her father, Emanuel Savitzky, was a butcher who emigrated in 1906.[6] He ran the Live and Let Live Meat Market onNinth Avenue.[10] Even in her youth, she was competitive and would beat other children in all sorts of competitions.[11][12] She ran the cash register at her father's deli as a young girl.[10]
Her religious upbringing influenced her development into a feminist. According to Abzug, "It was during these visits to the synagogue that I think I had my first thoughts as a feminist rebel. I didn't like the fact that women were consigned to the back rows of the balcony."[13] When her father died, Abzug, then 13, was told that herOrthodox synagogue did not permit women to say the (mourners')Kaddish, since that rite was reserved for sons of the deceased. However, because her father had no sons, she went to the synagogue every morning for a year to recite the prayer, defying the tradition of her congregation's practice of Orthodox Judaism.[5][14]
Abzug graduated fromWalton High School inThe Bronx, where she was class president.[9] Through high school she took violin lessons and went to Florence Marshall Hebrew High School after classes at Walton.[11] She went on to major in political science atHunter College of theCity University of New York and simultaneously attended theJewish Theological Seminary of America. At Hunter College, she was student council president and active in theAmerican Student Union. Abzug first met Mim Kelber, who would go on to co-foundWEDO with her, at Walton High School and they went on to attend Hunter College with one another. She later earned a law degree fromColumbia University in 1944.[6]
Abzug was admitted to the New York Bar in 1945, at a time when very few women practiced law, and started her career in New York City at the firm ofPressman,Witt &Cammer, frequently working cases in matters of labor law.
As a lawyer, she specialized in labor rights, tenants' rights, and civil liberties cases.[15] Early on, she took on civil rights cases in theSouthern United States. She appealed the case ofWillie McGee, a black man convicted in 1945 of raping a white woman inLaurel, Mississippi, and sentenced to death by an all-white jury who deliberated for only two-and-a-half minutes. Abzug lost the appeal and the man was executed.[16] Abzug was an outspoken advocate of liberal causes, including theEqual Rights Amendment, andopposition to the Vietnam War as well as themilitary draft.[6][17] She worked for theAmerican Civil Liberties Union and theCivil Rights Congress.[5]
Years before she was elected to the House of Representatives, she was an early participant inWomen Strike for Peace.[6][15][18] Her political stance placed her on themaster list of Nixon's political opponents.[19]
During theMcCarthy era, she was one of the few legal attorneys willing to openly combat theHouse Un-American Activities Committee.[15][5]
I've been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella.
— Bella Abzug, in her 1971 Congress journal, quoted by Braden inWomen Politicians and the Media[20]
Nicknamed "Battling Bella",[20][17] in 1970 she challenged the 14-year incumbentLeonard Farbstein in the Democratic primary for a congressional district on Manhattan's West Side. She defeated Farbstein in a considerable upset and then defeated talk show hostBarry Farber in the general election. In 1972, her district was eliminated via redistricting and she chose to run againstWilliam Fitts Ryan, who also represented part of the West Side, in the Democratic primary. Ryan, although seriously ill, defeated Abzug. However, Ryan died before the general election and Abzug defeated his widow, Priscilla, at the party's convention to choose the new Democratic nominee. In the general election Priscilla Ryan challenged Abzug on theLiberal Party line, but was unsuccessful.[21] She was reelected easily in 1974. For her last two terms, she represented part of the Bronx as well.
She was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights, introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974, with fellow Democratic New York City representativeEd Koch, who later became mayor of New York.[22][17] She also chaired historic hearings on government secrecy, being the chair for the Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights. She was voted by her colleagues as the third most influential member of the House as reported inU.S. News & World Report.
She was the sponsor for the Equality Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) that made it unlawful to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age.[23] She was a cosponsor ofH.R.13157 that established theClara Barton National Historic Site, the first National Parks Site dedicated to the achievements of a woman.[24]
She was frequently verbally abusive toward staff members, including referring toDoug Ireland as a "fat cocksucker."[25]
Although hats were banned on theHouse floor, Abzug was known for her colorful and vibrant hats and was seldom seen without one. After being forced to remove her iconic hat before entering the House floor, Abzug once remarked that she felt "naked and unrecognizable." She famously reminded all who admired them: "It's what's under the hat that counts!"[26][17]
In February 1975, Abzug was part of a bipartisan delegation sent toSaigon by PresidentGerald Ford to assess the situation on the ground in South Vietnam near the end of theVietnam War.[27]
Abzug was a supporter ofZionism. As a young woman she was a member of the Socialist-Zionist youth movement ofHashomer Hatzair.[28] In 1975, she challenged theUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (revoked in 1991 by resolution 46/86), which "determine[d] that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination."[29] Abzug said about the topic, "Zionism is a liberation movement."[5]
Abzug's career in Congress ended with an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1976, which she lost by less than one percent to the more moderateDaniel Patrick Moynihan, who had served in both theNixon and Ford Republican presidential administrations asWhite House Urban Affairs Advisor,Counselor to the President,United States Ambassador to India, andUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations. Moynihan would go on to serve four terms in that office.[6][30]
Abzug never held elected office again after leaving the House, although she remained a high-profile figure and was again a candidate on multiple occasions. She was unsuccessful in her bid to be mayor of New York City in1977,[31] as well as in attempts to return to the US House from the East Side of Manhattan in 1978 against RepublicanBill Green,[32] and fromWestchester County, New York, in 1986 againstJoe DioGuardi.[33]
She authored two books,Bella: Ms. Abzug Goes to Washington[34] andThe Gender Gap,[35] the latter co-authored with friend and colleague Mim Kelber.
In early 1977, President Jimmy Carter chose a newNational Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year and appointed Abzug to head it. Numerous events were held over the next two years, culminating in the1977 National Women's Conference in November.[36] She would continue this work as one of the two co-chairpersons for theNational Advisory Committee for Women untilher dismissal in January 1979, which would create a flash point of tension between theCarter administration and feminist organizations in the United States.[37]
Abzug founded and ran several women's advocacy organizations. She founded a grassroots organization called Women USA,[15] and continued to lead feminist advocacy events, for example serving as grand marshal of the Women's Equality Day New York March on August 26, 1980.[38]
In the last decade of her life, in the early 1990s, with Kelber, she co-founded theWomen's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), in their own words "a global women's advocacy organization working towards a just world that promotes and protects human rights, gender equality, and the integrity of the environment."[39] In 1991, WEDO held the World Women's Congress for a Healthy Planet in Miami, where 1,500 women from 83 countries produced the Women's Action Agenda 21.[40]
At the UN, Abzug developed the Women's Caucus, which analyzed documents, proposed gender-sensitive policies and language, and lobbied to advance the Women's Agenda for the 21st Century at the 1992UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, as well as women's issues at other events including the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.[40]
During her last years, Bella kept up her busy schedule of travel and work, even though she traveled in a wheelchair. Bella led WEDO until her death, giving her final public speech before the UN in March 1998.[41]
After battling breast cancer for a number of years, she developed heart disease and died atColumbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on March 31, 1998, from complications followingopen heart surgery. She was 77.[42] Abzug was interred atMount Carmel Cemetery,Glendale, Queens County, New York.[43]
In 1944, Bella married Martin Abzug, a novelist and stockbroker. They met on a bus in Miami, Florida while heading to aYehudi Menuhin concert, and they remained married until his death in 1986.[44] They had two daughters.
Abzug was a cousin of the lateArlene Stringer-Cuevas, who served as aNew York City Council member, and her sonScott Stringer, a New York City politician.[45]
Abzug used to comment that if male lawmakers were going to swim naked in the Congressional swimming pool as was the tradition, that that would be fine with her.[46][47]
In 1974, Jeff London created a sculptural "People Furniture" of Abzug having a good idea.
In 1991, Abzug received the"Maggie" Award, the highest honor of the Planned Parenthood Federation, in tribute to their founder,Margaret Sanger.[48]
In 1994, Abzug was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame inSeneca Falls.[6] The same year, she received a medal from theVeteran Feminists of America.[17]
Abzug was honored on March 6, 1997, at the United Nations as a leading female environmentalist.[6] She received the highest civilian recognition and honor at the U.N., theBlue Beret Peacekeepers Award.[49]
In 2004, her daughterLiz Abzug, an adjunct Urban Studies Professor atBarnard College and a political consultant, founded theBella Abzug Leadership Institute (BALI) to mentor and train high school and college women to become effective leaders in civic, political, corporate and community life. To commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the firstNational Women's Conference held in Houston in 1977, over which Bella Abzug had presided, BALI hosted a National Women's Conference on the weekend of November 10–11, 2007, atHunter College (NYC). Over 600 people from around the world attended. Besides celebrating the 1977 Conference, the 2007 agenda was to address significant women's issues for the 21st century.[50]
In 2017,Time magazine named Abzug one of its 50 Women Who Made American Political History.[51]
In 2024, as part of Women's History Month, NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued aproclamation for her work as a pioneering Congresswoman and feminist Leader, leading the fight for women's and civil rights.
Various landmarks in New York City bear Abzug's name. On March 1, 2019, the recently built Hudson Yards Park was renamedBella Abzug Park as a tribute to women's history month and its location in her former Congressional district.[52] In New York City's Greenwich Village, a portion of Bank Street is named for Abzug.[53]
She appeared in theWLIW videoA Laugh, A Tear, A Mitzvah,[54] as well as inWoody Allen'sManhattan as herself,[55] a 1977 episode ofSaturday Night Live,[56] and the documentaryNew York: A Documentary Film.[57]
In 1979, theSupersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Abzug's name and picture.[58]
Abzug appeared inShirley MacLaine's autobiographical bookOut on a Limb (1983). In the 1987ABC Television mini-series of the same name, Abzug was played byAnne Jackson.[59]
In the 1989 Beastie Boys music video for “Hey Ladies” someone can be seen holding a sign saying “Vote For Bella Abzug”.
In 2019Manhattan Theater Club, in New York City, producedBella Bella, a one-character show written and performed byHarvey Fierstein. In the show, Fierstein portrayed Abzug and created dialogue "from the words of Bella Abzug."[60]
In the 2020FX limited series,Mrs. America,Margo Martindale portrays Abzug.[61] The program examines the unsuccessful multi-year battle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.[61] That same year,Bette Midler portrayed Abzug in the filmThe Glorias.[62]
Abzug was featured in a segment in the 2007 documentaryNY77: The Coolest Year in Hell, which explores in depth what life was like during the year 1977 in Manhattan. An excerpt from a press conference of Bella Abzug is used when discussing the differences in political views between Abzug and fellow mayoral candidate Ed Koch.Geraldo Rivera gave detailed commentary on Bella's personality and political style.[63]
Jeff L. Lieberman produced the 2023 documentaryBella! about Abzug's life and political achievements. The film includes interviews withBarbra Streisand,Shirley MacLaine,Hillary Clinton,Lily Tomlin,Nancy Pelosi,Gloria Steinem,Maxine Waters,Phil Donahue,Marlo Thomas,Charles Rangel,David Dinkins, andRenée Taylor.
She is referenced in the Simpsons episodeAll's Fair in Oven War.
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Quotations related toBella Abzug at Wikiquote
Media related toBella Abzug at Wikimedia Commons| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 19th congressional district 1971–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 20th congressional district 1973–1977 | Succeeded by |
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