WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENT: GERALDINE FERRARO TO RECEIVE NYCLA’S EDITH I. SPIVACK AWARD ON MARCH 17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Anita Aboulafia 212-267-6646, ext. 225, aaboulafia@nycla.org

 

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENT: GERALDINE FERRARO TO

RECEIVE NYCLA’S EDITH I. SPIVACK AWARD ON MARCH 17

 

February 28, 2008 – New York, NY – In honor of Women’s History Month, the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) is presenting Geraldine A. Ferraro with the Edith I. Spivack Award on Monday, March 17 at a reception at the NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street, at 6:00 PM. Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney, U.S. Congresswoman, will present the award to Ms. Ferraro. The award is named for Edith I. Spivack, a longtime NYCLA member and the first chair of its Women’s Rights Committee, which became highly regarded for its advocacy of equal rights under the law for women under her leadership.

 

Ms. Ferraro, an attorney, Democratic politician, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and business woman, is best known as the first and only woman to date to represent a major U.S. political party as a candidate for Vice President (in the 1984 election).

 

Ms. Spivack (1910-2005) was one of the first women admitted to Columbia Law School (class of 1932). She worked at the New York City Department of Law for 70 years, retiring in December 2004. Ms. Spivack is remembered for her service as mentor, role model and inspiration to many women lawyers.

 

Geraldine A. Ferraro

Ms. Ferraro worked in the Queens, New York District Attorney’s office, where she started the Special Victims Bureau. In 1978, Ms. Ferraro ran for Congress from New York City’s 9th District and won the election. In Congress, she was a women’s and human rights advocate, working for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, sponsoring the Women’s Economic Equity Act ending pension discrimination against women, and seeking greater job training and opportunities for displaced homemakers.

 

Since 1984, Ms. Ferraro has been active in the public and private sectors. In 1985, she published an autobiography, My Story, and in 1993, she was appointed ambassador to the U.N.’s Human Rights Commission. She served as president of the International Institute for Women’s Political Leadership. Ms. Ferraro made two unsuccessful bids to run as the Democratic candidate to the U.S. Senate in 1992 and 1998. She joined Blank Rome Government Relations LLC as a principal in 2007. Ms. Ferraro is a graduate of Fordham Law School.

 

This event is among the myriad NYCLA events taking place during the Association’s Centennial year celebration, which commenced in April 2007 and ends in December 2008. NYCLA (www.nycla.org) was founded in April 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual identity. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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