Bella Abzug biography and career timeline

Bella Savitzky is born in The Bronx, New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants Emmanuel Savitizky and Esther Tanklefsky.

The family owns “The Live and Let Live Meat Market” at the corner of 9th Avenue and 41st Street in Manhattan.

EARLY ACTS OF DEFIANCE

Bella is 13 when her father suddenly dies. She defiantly says the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer in the family synagogue—defying ingrained gender roles.

Bella graduates from Walton High and begins attending Hunter College where she is elected class president. She appears on stage with Eleanor Roosevelt. Bella’s activism leads The New York Post to label her as “the campus pink.”

Bella enrolls in Law School at Columbia University where she is one of six women out of a class of 120. She marries Martin Abzug after a two-year courtship.

WORKING AS A LAWYER

She graduates from Law School, and becomes an active member of the National Lawyers Guild. She begins working as a labor lawyer, and starts regularly wearing hats to distinguish herself as a professional—not “the secretary.”

Bella’s first daughter, Eve, is born. Her second daughter, Isobel Jo “Liz” is born 1952.

She goes to Mississippi at the urging of The Civil Rights Congress to defend Willie McGee, a Black man facing the electric chair on the accusation of rape. Bella fights for re-trials, stays of execution and appeals to The Supreme Court and to President Harry Truman. Ultimately, McGee is executed in 1951.

Bella defends several individuals accused of Communism in the McCarthy witch hunt. She appears for the first time (of many) on the cover of The New York Times with accused client, Elliott Sullivan.

Bella moves to Mt. Vernon, outside of New York City, where integration was progressing faster than in many other American cities.

JOINING “WOMEN STRIKE FOR PEACE”

She becomes an active member of “Women Strike for Peace”, an organization determined to end nuclear testing, both for the risk of nuclear war, and the fact that U.S. testing was causing the spread of the metal, Strontium-90 to be absorbed into baby milk. The group stages protests in cities across the country, and challenges the behavior roles placed on women in that era.

After the murder of Malcolm X, a committee is formed by Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee to find a home for Betty Shabazz and her children. Bella offers to sell her home to the family, and moves her family to New York’s Greenwich Village.

“Women Strike for Peace” shifts focus to The Vietnam War, at the same time as women also begin staging demonstrations in the fight for gender equality. Bella meets Gloria Steinem at a march on The Pentagon. The two find a lot of similar goals and begin collaborating.

Bella and Ronnie Eldridge are active in the New York City political clubs, and force political candidates to state their position on The Vietnam War. Bella is recruited by Mayor John Lindsay to help on his 1969 re-election campaign. The experience leads her to finally pursue public office herself.

JOINING CONGRESS

Bella launches a challenge against the Democratic representative in Manhattan’s 19th Congressional District, which comprises many of the ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan. Her campaign includes slogans, buttons, shopping bags, celebrity endorsement (notably Barbra Streisand), and tireless on-the-street campaigning. She embraces the LGBTQ community, speaks Yiddish to the Lower East Side Jews, and campaigns on an anti-Vietnam War platform. She wins. She’s not the first woman in Congress—but one of the first to win in this type of on-the-street campaigning. She joins only 11 other women in the 92nd Congress.

On her first day in Congress, Bella calls for the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. She subsequently begins calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

Bella Abzug, Ron Dellums and other anti-war representatives coordinate with protestors to shut down Washington, D.C. in an anti-war protest. Police arrest 12,000 people over 3 days, using RFK stadium as a temporary prison. Bella commandeers a helicopter pilot to get to the scene to find solutions for release. It remains the largest mass arrest in U.S. history.

Bella and Shirley Chisholm introduce a comprehensive childcare bill that passes both houses. It is vetoed by Nixon.

A TWIST OF FATE

Several New York congressional districts are re-drawn—pitting Bella against like-minded Rep. Bill Ryan. Bella and her supporters believe it’s a way to oust her from Congress. She campaigns again in a heated battle, seeking support in new neighborhoods and famously campaigns in The Continental Baths. She loses to Ryan, only for the ultimate plot twist—Ryan succumbs to illness. His widow challenges Bella, but Bella prevails, returning to Congress.

The Saturday Night Massacre furthers Bella’s bold calls for Nixon’s impeachment. Watergate overwhelms both Washington and the nation. Bella is instrumental in finding a resolution to force newly-appointed President Gerald Ford to testify before Congress on the suspicion of a deal between Nixon and Ford.

INTRODUCING THE EQUAL CREDIT ACT

Bella introduces The Equal Credit Act—allowing women the independence to apply for credit cards and loans in their own name. This ended the gender imbalance forced upon women to have a husband or male figure’s sponsorship on an application.

Bella begins her third term in Congress and chairs the Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights. She brings CIA Director William Colby to testify, and discovers in the process that the CIA has been spying on her since the 1950’s, labeling her as dangerous, and invading her rights to privacy.

Bella and longtime rival, Rep. Ed Koch, introduce the nation’s first LGBTQ Rights Bill—an amendment to the Civil Rights Bill. In a time when being gay was still illegal in much of the country, the bill sought to protect from employment and housing discrimination. The bold and symbolic gesture was years ahead of its time, gaining just a small number of supportive votes.

Bella and a group of House delegates travel to Vietnam and Cambodia to assess funding of the war. She is instrumental in a bill that defunds the war, bringing it to an end.

In a daring move, Bella announces that she would be giving up her House Seat in a run for the U.S. Senate from New York. If elected, she would be the first woman to hold the seat, and be the only woman in the totally male Senate. She crisscrosses New York State on weekends. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat who worked in the Nixon White House, challenges her. The combative race led to a historic split at The New York Times between the editor and publisher. Moynihan defeats Bella by 1%, a crushing result that devastates Bella and her supporters.

Bella quickly refocuses to run in the upcoming election for New York City mayor. If elected, she would be the first female mayor of New York. A boisterous campaign ensues against five other big personalities, with Bella seen as the front-runner. The race occurs against the backdrop of a New York suffering from a budget crisis, severe decay and crime, a murderer on the loose, and a heat wave that leads to a blackout and days of looting, fire and vandalism. Bella wins Manhattan, but is beaten citywide by her old foe, Ed Koch.

CHAIRING THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S CONFERENCE

Bella chairs a historic event—The National Women’s Conference in Houston, Texas that draws together roughly 20,000 participants, including three First Ladies. The delegates vote on a platform of issues, with the results presented to President Jimmy Carter.

Bella runs for Ed Koch’s former Congressional seat, losing to a little-known Republican. It’s a stunning three losses in a row that have the media writing her political obituary.

That sting worsens when Carter fires Bella from her role as Chair of the National Advisory Committee for Women—a committee appointed by Carter, stemming from the conference. It leads to the mass resignation of many members of the committee, including Rep. Maxine Waters, Gloria Steinem and Marlo Thomas.

Bella shifts her focus internationally, creating the organization, WEDO: Women’s Environment and Development Organization. She takes on the United Nations, in the same way she took on Congress, bringing women’s voices and opinions into UN agreements and pacts. She trains NGO’s all around the world with a focus to protect the most under- represented women.

Bella attempts another run for Congress from her old Mt. Vernon, Westchester neighborhood. Martin Abzug dies in the middle of the campaign. She wins the primary but loses the election.

Bella attends UN conferences all around the world, and continues to teach, speak, and lead the fight on a number of causes. She attends the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, alongside First Lady Hillary Clinton—even as her health is deteriorating.

Bella succumbs to illness at the age of 77.

HONORED BY NYC

Bella is honored by New York City with the first official testaments to her contributions to the city. Bank Street in Greenwich Village is named “Bella Abzug Way” and “Bella Abzug Park” in Hudson Yards is officially opened.