November: Jewish Women in Politics

Florence Prag Kahn, the first Jewish woman to serve in Congress, succeeded her husband upon his death in 1924 and served the San Francisco area for five terms. Kahn's inauguration into Congress occurred shortly after Rose Schneiderman ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1920. Schneiderman was a passionate political activist, lending her voice to areas of reform including women's suffrage and the labor movement.

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"Thousands of women cheered as Abzug, Friedan and Billie Jean King accompanied torch relay runners into the streets of Houston. One woman, by herself, looked like she had wandered into the wrong world. She wore a cheap tight purple pantsuit, lots of makeup and an elaborate beehive. She reluctantly said she was a clerk for a major company and asked not to be identified by name: 'I'll get fired if they know I'm here.' And she wasn't really by herself, she explained: 'I'm representing all the girls who work with me.' What had galvanized her to risk her job? 'Bella Abzug. She understands people like me.'"

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1. Quote from Myra MacPherson, "Bella Abzug, Champion of Women," Washington Post 2 April 1998:B1.

One of the most out-spoken and accomplished Jewish Congresswomen was Bella Abzug, one of JWA's Women of Valor. "Born yelling" in 1920, the year women were first allowed to vote in a U.S. Presidential election, Bella began her political career as a young child, giving impassioned Zionist speeches on the New York City subway to raise money for a Jewish homeland. Her involvement continued into her adulthood, and in 1961, Bella helped initiate the Women's Strike for Peace. In 1970 she was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress on a women's rights / peace platform. During her three terms in the House of Representives, Bella fought for women's, environmental, and human rights. In 1971, she co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus, and in 1977 presided over the first National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas.

Today, Jewish women continue to be a force in U.S. politics.

112^th Congress

Senate:

• Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
• Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were elected on November 3, 1992, becoming the first Jewish women senators, the first female senators from California, and the first two women to represent any state at the same time. Visit This Week in History to learn more.

Congress:

• Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
• Susan Davis (D-CA)
• Jane Harman (D-CA)
• Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
• Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
• Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

In the 2008 election, two Jewish women vied for the same seat in Pennsylvania's 13^th Congressional District. The incumbent, Allyson Schwartz (D), a first-generation American whose family fled Nazi persecution in Austria, defeated Marina Kats (R), a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant. Schwartz was re-elected in 2010.

On January 8, 2011, Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot at a rally in Tuscon, AZ. After a remarkable recovery, Rep. Giffords made her final appearance as a Congresswoman at President Obama's State of the Union address in January, 2012. She offered her resignation from Congress on January 25, 2012 to focus on her recovery.

State Government:

• Linda Lingle (R) served as the Governor of Hawai'I from 2002 until 2010. She became the second Jewish woman elected governor of a U.S. state after Madeleine Kunin.
• Madeleine Kunin (D) served as Governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991.

Know of other Jewish women in politics? Let us know or put them "On the Map."