Women of Influence: Bella Abzug
Richard Nixon was no fan of feminists and in the 70s he had to deal with one of the most tenacious, Bella Abzug, the Congresswoman from New York. She was nicknamed "Battling Bella", and she was a leader in the women's movement during her era. She was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1970, running on the slogan "This woman's place is in the House -- the House of Representatives." In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan as one of the co-founders of the National Women's Political Caucus. She was also a founder of the Commission for Women’s Equality of the American Jewish Congress.
She was born as Bella Savitzky on July 24, 1920, in New York City. Both of her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her mother, the former Esther Tanklefsky, was a homemaker. Her father, Emanuel Savitzky, operated the Live and Let Live Meat Market on Ninth Avenue in the Bronx. As a young girl, Bella ran the cash register at her father's deli.
Abzug later recalled that her interest in feminism began as a result of her religious upbringing. She said, "It was during my 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." Her father died when she was 13, and the young Bella Abzug was upset when she was told that her Orthodox synagogue did not permit women to say the mourners' prayer known as the Kaddish, because this was a rite was reserved only for the sons of the deceased. Her father had no sons, so in an early act of defiance, she went to the synagogue every morning for a year to recite the prayer.
Abzug graduated from Walton High School in the Bronx. While in High School she learned to play the violin. She attended Florence Marshall Hebrew High School and after graduation went on to major in political science at Hunter College of the City University of New York. At the same time she was attending the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. At Hunter College, she was active in the American Student Union. She later earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1944.
In 1944, Bella Savitzky married Martin Abzug, a novelist and stockbroker. They had met on a bus in Miami, Florida while heading to a Yehudi Menuhin concert, and they remained married until his death in 1986. They had two daughters.
Abzug was admitted to the New York Bar in 1945, at a time when very few women practiced law. She began her legal career in New York City at the firm of Pressman, Witt & Cammer, specializing in labor law, tenants' rights and civil liberties. She would travel into the southern states to represent clients in civil rights cases. One of her more prominent cases was that of Willie McGee, a black man convicted in 1945 of raping a white woman in Laurel, Mississippi, and sentenced to death by an all-white jury who deliberated for only two-and-a-half minutes. She represented McGee in his appeal, but was unsuccessful in overturning the conviction, and McGee was subsequently executed. The case had a lasting impact on her and strengthened her resolve to push for civil rights reform. She became an outspoken advocate of liberal causes, including the Equal Rights Amendment, and opposition to the Vietnam War as well as the military draft. During the McCarthy era, she was one of the few legal attorneys willing to openly combat the House Un-American Activities Committee. Abzug went on to work for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Civil Rights Congress. She also participated in Women Strike for Peace.
In 1970 she challenged the 14-year incumbent Leonard Farbstein in the Democratic primary for a congressional district on Manhattan's West Side. Nicknamed "Battling Bella", a name she was proud of, she fought a strong campaign and defeated Farbstein in a remarkable upset. She went on to defeated talk show host Barry Farber in the general election. Two years later, in 1972, her district was eliminated via redistricting and she chose to run against William Fitts Ryan, who also represented part of the West Side, in the Democratic primary. Ryan defeated Abzug, but died before the general election. At the party's convention to choose his successor, Abzug defeated his widow, Priscilla and became the new Democratic nominee. In the general election Priscilla Ryan challenged Abzug, running as the candidate for Liberal Party line, but was unsuccessful. Abzug was reelected easily in 1974.
Abzug was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights. While serving in the House, she introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974. It was co-sponsored by fellow Democratic New York City Representative, Ed Koch, a future mayor of New York City. She also chaired historic hearings on government secrecy, and became 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 in a poll taken by U.S. News & World Report. Abzug 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.
Abzug earned a reputation as someone who was difficult to work for and was frequently verbally abusive toward her staff members. She berated her staff, and referred to one staff member, Doug Ireland, as a "fat cocksucker." Abzug also became famous for wear colorful and vibrant hats, though she was not permitted to wear them on the House floor. She was a constant critic of President Richard Nixon and was reported to be on Nixon's "enemies list."
In February 1975, Abzug was part of a bipartisan delegation sent to Saigon by President Gerald Ford to assess the situation on the ground in South Vietnam near the end of the Vietnam War.
Abzug's career in Congress ended in 1976 when she made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in 1976. She lost the nomination by less than one percent to the more moderate Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had served in both the Nixon and Ford Administrations as White House Urban Affairs Advisor, Counselor to the President, United States Ambassador to India, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Moynihan would go on to serve four terms in the Senate.
Abzug never held elected office again after leaving the House, although she remained a high-profile figure. She was unsuccessful in her bid to be Mayor of New York City in 1977, and failed in attempts to return to the US House from the East Side of Manhattan in 1978 against Republican Bill Green,] and from Westchester County, New York, in 1986 against Joe DioGuardi. She would write two books, one the autobiography "Bella: Ms. Abzug Goes to Washington" and a book on feminism entitled "The Gender Gap", the latter co-authored Mim Kelber.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter chose a new National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year and appointed Abzug to head the commission. Numerous events were held over the next two years, culminating in the 1977 National Women's Conference in November. She was fired as one of the two co-chairpersons for the National Advisory Committee for Women in January 1979, which led to tension bewtween the Carter administration and a number of feminist organizations in the United States.
In her post-congressional career, Abzug founded and ran several women's advocacy organizations, including a grassroots organization called Women USA. She was chosen as grand marshal of the Women's Equality Day New York March on August 26, 1980. In the early 1990s, with she and Mim Kelber co-founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). In 1991, WEDO held the World Women's Congress for a Healthy Planet in Miami, at which 1,500 women from 83 countries met and produced the Women's Action Agenda 21. She also lobbied to advance the Women's Agenda for the 21st Century at the 1992 UN 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.
She received a number of honors in her later years. In 1991, Abzug received the "Maggie" Award, highest honor bestowed by the Planned Parenthood Federation. In 1994, Abzug was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. The same year, she received a medal from the Veteran Feminists of America.
During her last years, Abzug was confined in a wheelchair, but kept up a busy schedule and led WEDO until her death. She made her final public speech before the UN in March 1998.
After battling breast cancer for a number of years, Bella Abzug died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on March 31, 1998, from complications following open heart surgery. She was 77. Abzug was interred at Old Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls.
She was born as Bella Savitzky on July 24, 1920, in New York City. Both of her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her mother, the former Esther Tanklefsky, was a homemaker. Her father, Emanuel Savitzky, operated the Live and Let Live Meat Market on Ninth Avenue in the Bronx. As a young girl, Bella ran the cash register at her father's deli.
Abzug later recalled that her interest in feminism began as a result of her religious upbringing. She said, "It was during my 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." Her father died when she was 13, and the young Bella Abzug was upset when she was told that her Orthodox synagogue did not permit women to say the mourners' prayer known as the Kaddish, because this was a rite was reserved only for the sons of the deceased. Her father had no sons, so in an early act of defiance, she went to the synagogue every morning for a year to recite the prayer.
Abzug graduated from Walton High School in the Bronx. While in High School she learned to play the violin. She attended Florence Marshall Hebrew High School and after graduation went on to major in political science at Hunter College of the City University of New York. At the same time she was attending the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. At Hunter College, she was active in the American Student Union. She later earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1944.
In 1944, Bella Savitzky married Martin Abzug, a novelist and stockbroker. They had met on a bus in Miami, Florida while heading to a Yehudi Menuhin concert, and they remained married until his death in 1986. They had two daughters.
Abzug was admitted to the New York Bar in 1945, at a time when very few women practiced law. She began her legal career in New York City at the firm of Pressman, Witt & Cammer, specializing in labor law, tenants' rights and civil liberties. She would travel into the southern states to represent clients in civil rights cases. One of her more prominent cases was that of Willie McGee, a black man convicted in 1945 of raping a white woman in Laurel, Mississippi, and sentenced to death by an all-white jury who deliberated for only two-and-a-half minutes. She represented McGee in his appeal, but was unsuccessful in overturning the conviction, and McGee was subsequently executed. The case had a lasting impact on her and strengthened her resolve to push for civil rights reform. She became an outspoken advocate of liberal causes, including the Equal Rights Amendment, and opposition to the Vietnam War as well as the military draft. During the McCarthy era, she was one of the few legal attorneys willing to openly combat the House Un-American Activities Committee. Abzug went on to work for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Civil Rights Congress. She also participated in Women Strike for Peace.
In 1970 she challenged the 14-year incumbent Leonard Farbstein in the Democratic primary for a congressional district on Manhattan's West Side. Nicknamed "Battling Bella", a name she was proud of, she fought a strong campaign and defeated Farbstein in a remarkable upset. She went on to defeated talk show host Barry Farber in the general election. Two years later, in 1972, her district was eliminated via redistricting and she chose to run against William Fitts Ryan, who also represented part of the West Side, in the Democratic primary. Ryan defeated Abzug, but died before the general election. At the party's convention to choose his successor, Abzug defeated his widow, Priscilla and became the new Democratic nominee. In the general election Priscilla Ryan challenged Abzug, running as the candidate for Liberal Party line, but was unsuccessful. Abzug was reelected easily in 1974.
Abzug was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights. While serving in the House, she introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974. It was co-sponsored by fellow Democratic New York City Representative, Ed Koch, a future mayor of New York City. She also chaired historic hearings on government secrecy, and became 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 in a poll taken by U.S. News & World Report. Abzug 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.
Abzug earned a reputation as someone who was difficult to work for and was frequently verbally abusive toward her staff members. She berated her staff, and referred to one staff member, Doug Ireland, as a "fat cocksucker." Abzug also became famous for wear colorful and vibrant hats, though she was not permitted to wear them on the House floor. She was a constant critic of President Richard Nixon and was reported to be on Nixon's "enemies list."
In February 1975, Abzug was part of a bipartisan delegation sent to Saigon by President Gerald Ford to assess the situation on the ground in South Vietnam near the end of the Vietnam War.
Abzug's career in Congress ended in 1976 when she made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in 1976. She lost the nomination by less than one percent to the more moderate Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had served in both the Nixon and Ford Administrations as White House Urban Affairs Advisor, Counselor to the President, United States Ambassador to India, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Moynihan would go on to serve four terms in the Senate.
Abzug never held elected office again after leaving the House, although she remained a high-profile figure. She was unsuccessful in her bid to be Mayor of New York City in 1977, and failed in attempts to return to the US House from the East Side of Manhattan in 1978 against Republican Bill Green,] and from Westchester County, New York, in 1986 against Joe DioGuardi. She would write two books, one the autobiography "Bella: Ms. Abzug Goes to Washington" and a book on feminism entitled "The Gender Gap", the latter co-authored Mim Kelber.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter chose a new National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year and appointed Abzug to head the commission. Numerous events were held over the next two years, culminating in the 1977 National Women's Conference in November. She was fired as one of the two co-chairpersons for the National Advisory Committee for Women in January 1979, which led to tension bewtween the Carter administration and a number of feminist organizations in the United States.
In her post-congressional career, Abzug founded and ran several women's advocacy organizations, including a grassroots organization called Women USA. She was chosen as grand marshal of the Women's Equality Day New York March on August 26, 1980. In the early 1990s, with she and Mim Kelber co-founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). In 1991, WEDO held the World Women's Congress for a Healthy Planet in Miami, at which 1,500 women from 83 countries met and produced the Women's Action Agenda 21. She also lobbied to advance the Women's Agenda for the 21st Century at the 1992 UN 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.
She received a number of honors in her later years. In 1991, Abzug received the "Maggie" Award, highest honor bestowed by the Planned Parenthood Federation. In 1994, Abzug was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. The same year, she received a medal from the Veteran Feminists of America.
During her last years, Abzug was confined in a wheelchair, but kept up a busy schedule and led WEDO until her death. She made her final public speech before the UN in March 1998.
After battling breast cancer for a number of years, Bella Abzug died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on March 31, 1998, from complications following open heart surgery. She was 77. Abzug was interred at Old Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls.