Ella T. Grasso

Infobox Governor
name = Ella T. Grasso


imagesize = 120px
order = 68th
office = Governor of Connecticut
term_start = January 81975
term_end = December 121980
lieutenant = Robert K. Killian
William A. O'Neill
predecessor = Thomas Joseph Meskill
successor = William A. O'Neill
birth_date = birth date|1919|5|10
birth_place = Windsor Locks, Connecticut
death_date = Death date and age|1981|2|5|1919|5|10
death_place =
nationality = American
spouse = Thomas Grasso
party = Democratic
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession = Politician
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Ella Grasso (May 10, 1919 – February 5, 1981), born Ella Giovanna Oliva Tambussi, was an American politician.

Biography

Grasso was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to Italian immigrant parents. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first elected woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state; however, Grasso was the first woman who was elected governor "in her own right," without being the wife or widow of a past governor. She was also the first female governor of Connecticut.cite news |first=Matthew |last=Wald |title=Ex-Gov. Grasso of Connecticut Dead of Cancer |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401EEDC133BF935A35751C0A967948260&sec=health&pagewanted=all
work=The New York Times |date=1981-02-06 |accessdate=2006-11-14]

After attending St. Mary's School in Windsor Locks, and then the Chaffee School in Windsor, Grasso went on to Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she was awarded her B.A. in 1940 and her M.A. in 1942. After graduation, she served as assistant director of research for the War Manpower Commission of Connecticut.

Politics

In 1952, Grasso was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives and served until 1957. She became first woman to be elected Floor Leader of the House in 1955. In 1958 she was elected Secretary of the State of Connecticut and was re-elected in 1962 and 1966. She was the first woman to chair the Democratic State Platform Committee and served from 1956 to 1968. She served as a member of the Platform Drafting Committee for the 1960 Democratic National Convention. She was the co-chairman for the Resolutions Committee for the Democratic National Conventions of 1964 and 1968. In 1970 she was elected as a Democratic representative to the 92nd Congress, and won re-election in 1972.

In 1974 Grasso did not run for re-election to Congress, instead running for the Connecticut governorship, and won. She began her first term in 1975, and was elected to a second term in 1978.

Grasso was married to Thomas Grasso in 1942, and together had two children, Susanne and James. On December 31, 1980, Grasso resigned her office due to her ovarian cancer, and died of it several weeks later on February 5, 1981, at the age of 61. Later that year, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Women's Hall of Fame inducted her in 1993. She was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the [http://www.cwhf.org/ Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame] in 1994.

References

External links

* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/news/grasso.shtml Mount Holyoke biography]
* [http://www.politicalgraveyard.com/bio/grant-graver.html Brief biography]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/65/gr/Grasso-E.html Bartleby biography]
* [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/mountholyoke/mshm301.html Ella T. Grasso Papers at Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections]
* [http://www.cwhf.org/browse_hall/hall/people/Grasso.php Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame Bio]
* [http://www.cwhf.org/programs_egc.php Ella Tambussi Grasso Center for Women in Politics]
* [http://www.cslib.org/gov/grassoe.htm Connecticut State Library Bio]
* [http://www.cga.ct.gov/capitoltours/photohtmpages/CapitolPhoto15.htm Photo of Grasso's Statue on the Connecticut State Capitol buildingndash the first woman to be represented there]