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| Shirley Siegel, Leading New York Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies at 101 | Shirley Siegel, Leading New York Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies at 101 |
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| Shirley A. Siegel, who as a top law school graduate overcame rejections by 40 male-dominated law firms before forging a career as a leading civil rights lawyer, arguing cases before the Supreme Court and becoming New York State’s solicitor general, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 101. | Shirley A. Siegel, who as a top law school graduate overcame rejections by 40 male-dominated law firms before forging a career as a leading civil rights lawyer, arguing cases before the Supreme Court and becoming New York State’s solicitor general, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 101. |
| Her daughter, Ann B. Siegel, said the cause was complications of a stroke suffered a few weeks ago. | Her daughter, Ann B. Siegel, said the cause was complications of a stroke suffered a few weeks ago. |
| Ms. Siegel found her calling in life early, deciding at age 5 that she would become a lawyer before she even knew what a lawyer was. But once she started practicing law, she kept at it for more than 70 years, compiling a long list of achievements, notably in challenging racial discrimination by construction unions, landlords and developers. | Ms. Siegel found her calling in life early, deciding at age 5 that she would become a lawyer before she even knew what a lawyer was. But once she started practicing law, she kept at it for more than 70 years, compiling a long list of achievements, notably in challenging racial discrimination by construction unions, landlords and developers. |
| Ms. Siegel organized New York State’s newly created Civil Rights Bureau in 1959 under the newly elected State Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz (a Republican who selected her even though she was a Democrat). She served under Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York as general counsel of the Housing and Development Administration, where she helped draft the Rent Stabilization Law. And she returned to Albany in 1979 when Attorney General Robert Abrams named her solicitor general, the official responsible for rendering opinions and arguing appeals of court decisions involving the state. She remained in that post until 1982. | Ms. Siegel organized New York State’s newly created Civil Rights Bureau in 1959 under the newly elected State Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz (a Republican who selected her even though she was a Democrat). She served under Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York as general counsel of the Housing and Development Administration, where she helped draft the Rent Stabilization Law. And she returned to Albany in 1979 when Attorney General Robert Abrams named her solicitor general, the official responsible for rendering opinions and arguing appeals of court decisions involving the state. She remained in that post until 1982. |
| Ms. Siegel regarded as one of her greatest accomplishments the blow she made in the Civil Rights Bureau against discrimination by organized labor in the building trades. Until then an applicant for union membership first had to have worked as an apprentice, a position typically granted on the basis of nepotism. | Ms. Siegel regarded as one of her greatest accomplishments the blow she made in the Civil Rights Bureau against discrimination by organized labor in the building trades. Until then an applicant for union membership first had to have worked as an apprentice, a position typically granted on the basis of nepotism. |
| Investigations by the attorney general’s office culminated in an official complaint before the State Commission Against Discrimination, leading the United States Justice Department and other agencies to begin inquiries into the practices of a number of unions. | Investigations by the attorney general’s office culminated in an official complaint before the State Commission Against Discrimination, leading the United States Justice Department and other agencies to begin inquiries into the practices of a number of unions. |
| In 1975, for example, a federal judge ordered Local 28 of the 4,000-member Sheet Metal Workers International Association to end “a history of discrimination” and admit more minority-group members into its ranks and its apprentice program. | In 1975, for example, a federal judge ordered Local 28 of the 4,000-member Sheet Metal Workers International Association to end “a history of discrimination” and admit more minority-group members into its ranks and its apprentice program. |
| As a state official, Ms. Siegel sought to carry out the Supreme Court’s guarantee that poor people were entitled to legal representation, and she found that insurance companies and banks had favored job applicants who were white, Christian and male — a determination that compelled them to begin opening up their hiring practices. | As a state official, Ms. Siegel sought to carry out the Supreme Court’s guarantee that poor people were entitled to legal representation, and she found that insurance companies and banks had favored job applicants who were white, Christian and male — a determination that compelled them to begin opening up their hiring practices. |
| As a volunteer lawyer for the New York Civil Liberties Union, Ms. Siegel drafted a brief supporting Japanese-Americans who, in a case before the United States Supreme Court, were challenging their internment at the outbreak of World War II. | As a volunteer lawyer for the New York Civil Liberties Union, Ms. Siegel drafted a brief supporting Japanese-Americans who, in a case before the United States Supreme Court, were challenging their internment at the outbreak of World War II. |
| Ms. Siegel argued cases before the Supreme Court twice, both times successfully. In the first, in 1963, she defended New York’s anti-discrimination law in case involving a black pilot’s suit against a national airline. In the second case, in 1980, the justices upheld a law for which she had argued that authorized the use of state funds to reimburse nonpublic schools for state-required services like testing and recording attendance. | Ms. Siegel argued cases before the Supreme Court twice, both times successfully. In the first, in 1963, she defended New York’s anti-discrimination law in case involving a black pilot’s suit against a national airline. In the second case, in 1980, the justices upheld a law for which she had argued that authorized the use of state funds to reimburse nonpublic schools for state-required services like testing and recording attendance. |
| Ms. Siegal had been no stranger to discrimination herself, on two fronts. After graduating fourth in a class of 125 from Yale Law School in 1941 — her classmates included a future president, Gerald R. Ford; a future Supreme Court justice, Potter Stewart; and the future founding director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver — 40 law firms rejected her job application, despite an unsolicited endorsement from Arthur L. Corbin, a Yale professor. | Ms. Siegal had been no stranger to discrimination herself, on two fronts. After graduating fourth in a class of 125 from Yale Law School in 1941 — her classmates included a future president, Gerald R. Ford; a future Supreme Court justice, Potter Stewart; and the future founding director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver — 40 law firms rejected her job application, despite an unsolicited endorsement from Arthur L. Corbin, a Yale professor. |
| “Anyone who employs her in legal work will have reason to be thankful to us,” Professor Corbin wrote. “And she needs help to get a starting job, first because she is a girl, and second because she is Jewish. There is no reason for the slightest hesitation on either ground.” | “Anyone who employs her in legal work will have reason to be thankful to us,” Professor Corbin wrote. “And she needs help to get a starting job, first because she is a girl, and second because she is Jewish. There is no reason for the slightest hesitation on either ground.” |
| She was finally hired, by Proskauer, Rose & Paskus, a largely Jewish firm, becoming its first female lawyer. | She was finally hired, by Proskauer, Rose & Paskus, a largely Jewish firm, becoming its first female lawyer. |
| But those 40 cold shoulders had been nothing new to Ms. Siegel. She had entered Yale Law School in 1938 as the only woman in her class. | But those 40 cold shoulders had been nothing new to Ms. Siegel. She had entered Yale Law School in 1938 as the only woman in her class. |
| “I came to my first class and nobody would sit next to me,” she said. | “I came to my first class and nobody would sit next to me,” she said. |
| Shirley Adelson was born on July 3, 1918, in the South Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Her father, Henry, owned a clothing store. Her mother, Rose (Zagor) Adelson, worked as a seamstress but mostly as a homemaker. | Shirley Adelson was born on July 3, 1918, in the South Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Her father, Henry, owned a clothing store. Her mother, Rose (Zagor) Adelson, worked as a seamstress but mostly as a homemaker. |
| The family left to live in Trenton, N.J., when Shirley was an infant, then boarded a Pennsylvania Railroad train and moved to Manhattan when she was 5. On that train ride north, she recalled, she got to talking to a stranger seated next to her. | The family left to live in Trenton, N.J., when Shirley was an infant, then boarded a Pennsylvania Railroad train and moved to Manhattan when she was 5. On that train ride north, she recalled, she got to talking to a stranger seated next to her. |
| “When I got back to the city with the family, what they talked about the rest of that day was that I had spoken to this stranger for the whole two hours, and they said, ‘She is such a chatterbox, she should be a lawyer,” Ms. Siegel told the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession in 2006. | “When I got back to the city with the family, what they talked about the rest of that day was that I had spoken to this stranger for the whole two hours, and they said, ‘She is such a chatterbox, she should be a lawyer,” Ms. Siegel told the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession in 2006. |
| “Well, I then entered kindergarten, and the teacher asked us what we wanted to be,” she added. “I said that day in kindergarten that I wanted to be a lawyer, without knowing any lawyers and having absolutely no idea what this was all about.” | “Well, I then entered kindergarten, and the teacher asked us what we wanted to be,” she added. “I said that day in kindergarten that I wanted to be a lawyer, without knowing any lawyers and having absolutely no idea what this was all about.” |
| Her response distinguished her in elementary school as “the girl who wanted to be a lawyer.” | Her response distinguished her in elementary school as “the girl who wanted to be a lawyer.” |
| “So this was a very odd way to choose a career,” she said. | “So this was a very odd way to choose a career,” she said. |
| Ms. Siegel was a month shy of her 15th birthday when she graduated from George Washington High School in Upper Manhattan as class valedictorian. She then enrolled at Barnard College, where she became an acolyte of Raymond Moley, the Columbia University professor and New Deal adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. | |
| A part-time job with a New Deal program, the New York Legislative Service, led to a lifetime commitment, both in government and as a public-interest lawyer, to fighting discrimination by landlords and developers. | A part-time job with a New Deal program, the New York Legislative Service, led to a lifetime commitment, both in government and as a public-interest lawyer, to fighting discrimination by landlords and developers. |
| After earning her degree in government at Barnard, Ms. Siegel won a fellowship to the London School of Economics, where she was mentored by Harold J. Laski, the English political theorist and Labor Party chairman. It was he who recommended that she apply to Yale Law School. (He lent her the $50 application fee, which she repaid.) | After earning her degree in government at Barnard, Ms. Siegel won a fellowship to the London School of Economics, where she was mentored by Harold J. Laski, the English political theorist and Labor Party chairman. It was he who recommended that she apply to Yale Law School. (He lent her the $50 application fee, which she repaid.) |
| After law school, she married Elwood Siegel, a documentary filmmaker, and moved to California in 1946. They returned to New York in 1950; he died in 1994. In addition to their daughter, she is survived by a son, Eric; and a grandson. In 1997, she married a former college boyfriend, Prof. Henry Fagin; he died in 2009. | After law school, she married Elwood Siegel, a documentary filmmaker, and moved to California in 1946. They returned to New York in 1950; he died in 1994. In addition to their daughter, she is survived by a son, Eric; and a grandson. In 1997, she married a former college boyfriend, Prof. Henry Fagin; he died in 2009. |
| Jill Norgren, the author of “Stories From Trailblazing Women Lawyers” (2018), said Ms. Siegel’s “intelligence, along with her persistence and ambition, permitted her to break any number of barriers in the legal profession as a young woman and as a Jewish woman.” | Jill Norgren, the author of “Stories From Trailblazing Women Lawyers” (2018), said Ms. Siegel’s “intelligence, along with her persistence and ambition, permitted her to break any number of barriers in the legal profession as a young woman and as a Jewish woman.” |
| Ms. Siegel, she added, “was important for showing women that they could shape careers similar to those of male lawyers, going back-and-forth between the public and private sectors.” | Ms. Siegel, she added, “was important for showing women that they could shape careers similar to those of male lawyers, going back-and-forth between the public and private sectors.” |
| Ms. Siegel continued practicing into her 90s, working on a New York City Bar Justice Center project to prevent mortgage foreclosures in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Last year she was awarded Barnard’s Medal of Distinction for her “trailblazing civil rights and fair housing” work. | Ms. Siegel continued practicing into her 90s, working on a New York City Bar Justice Center project to prevent mortgage foreclosures in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Last year she was awarded Barnard’s Medal of Distinction for her “trailblazing civil rights and fair housing” work. |
| In her New York City Bar Association biography, Ms. Siegel explained how she had achieved her childhood goal of becoming a lawyer. | In her New York City Bar Association biography, Ms. Siegel explained how she had achieved her childhood goal of becoming a lawyer. |
| “You get to realize in so many different settings the importance of understanding the facts, getting skeptical if what you’re being told doesn’t hang together,” she said. “It just applies to everything. And, of course, hard work. Everything is hard work.” | “You get to realize in so many different settings the importance of understanding the facts, getting skeptical if what you’re being told doesn’t hang together,” she said. “It just applies to everything. And, of course, hard work. Everything is hard work.” |