Hazel Abel | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromNebraska | |
| In office November 8, 1954 – December 31, 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Eva Bowring |
| Succeeded by | Carl Curtis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hazel Hempel (1888-07-10)July 10, 1888 Plattsmouth, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 1966(1966-07-30) (aged 78) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Resting place | Wyuka Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | George Abel (m. 1916) |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | University of Nebraska (BA) |
Hazel Abel (néeHempel; July 10, 1888 – July 30, 1966) was an Americaneducator andpolitician in theU.S. state ofNebraska, who served as a member of theUnited States Senate for fifty-four days in 1954. She was the second womanelected to the Senatefrom Nebraska, and she remains the shortest-serving senator from Nebraska.
Abel was born inPlattsmouth, Nebraska, the daughter of Charles Hempel and Ella Hempel. She attended the public schools ofOmaha, Nebraska, and graduated from theUniversity of Nebraska in 1908.[1] She worked as a high school mathematics teacher and principal inPapillion, Nebraska,Ashland, Nebraska, andCrete, Nebraska, before working as secretary, treasurer, and eventually president of her husband's construction company.[2]
Abel was a delegate to the Nebraska State Republican Conventions from 1939 to 1948 and from 1952 to 1956.[3] In 1954 Abel was elected to be the vice chairman of the State Republican Central Committee. That same year she was elected to complete the unexpired term ofSen.Kenneth Spicer Wherry, who had died in office.[4] She became the second woman elected fromNebraska to serve in the Senate, as well as the first woman to follow another woman in a Senate seat,[5] asEva Bowring had previously been appointed to the seat to serve until an election was held.
She served in the Senate from November 8, 1954, until her resignation on December 31, 1954. She resigned three days before the expiration of her term, to give fellow Republican Carl Curtis of Nebraska, elected to the six–year term in November, a seniority advantage. She later observed that she campaigned for the two–month term to raise the visibility of women in political office. "To me it was more than just a short term in the Senate," Abel recalled forNewsweek. "I wanted Nebraska voters to express their approval of a woman in government. I was sort of a guinea pig."[6] While in the Senate, she voted to censureSen.Joseph McCarthy fromWisconsin, in theArmy–McCarthy hearings.[6] Abel was the fifth of six Senators to serve during the fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska's Class 2 seat (January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1955).
She was a delegate to the White House Conference on Education in 1955, and chairwoman of the Nebraska delegation to the1956 Republican National Convention.[7] From 1955 to 1959 she was a member of theTheodore Roosevelt Centennial Commission,[8] and in 1957 she was named "American Mother of the Year".[9] She also served as the president and founder of theNebraska Federation of Republican Women,[10] and was on the board of trustees atDoane College andNebraska Wesleyan College.[11] She tried unsuccessfully to win the Republican nomination forGovernor of Nebraska in 1960.[6]
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She died inLincoln, Nebraska, on July 30, 1966, and is interred inWyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.[4]Hazel Abel Park in Lincoln is named in her honor.[1]
Abel married George Abel in 1916,[12] and they had five children, Helen, George, Hazel, Alice, and Annette.[13]
Hazel Hempel Abel University of Nebraska in 1908.
Hazel Hempel Abel University of Nebraska in 1908.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee for U.S. Senator fromNebraska (Class 2) 1954 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Nebraska November 8, 1954 – December 31, 1954 Served alongside:Roman Hruska | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| People | |
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| Other | |
