[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 161 (Friday, October 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN RECOGNITION OF THE LATE ELINOR GUGGENHEIMER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 3, 2008

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart 
that I rise to pay tribute to the late Elinor Guggenheimer, an 
outstanding New Yorker who devoted herself to her city and her country 
throughout her life. It is with both profound sadness but also an 
enduring sense of gratitude for the tremendous inspiration that she 
provided that I note Elinor Guggenheimer's passing last Monday at the 
age of 96.
  Elinor Guggenheimer was not just a leader, but a pioneering figure in 
the history of the movement for women's equality. A graduate of Barnard 
College, following the end of World War II she launched into a career 
of activism on behalf of women, children, and the elderly. She 
developed a well-deserved reputation as a tireless crusader for better 
and more child care options for working parents, stronger consumer 
protections, and the advancement of women into all sectors of society, 
including government and elective office.
  In 1961, Elinor Guggenheimer became the first woman to serve on the 
New York City Planning Commission, where she focused on helping to 
guide City policies on parks and prisons. As part of municipal 
government's anti-poverty efforts, she was also named by Mayor Robert 
F. Wagner to the Head Start Committee of New York City. She later 
became one of the first women to seek citywide office in New York, 
running for President of the New York City Council in 1969. She went on 
to become the City's Commissioner of Consumer Affairs in the 
administration of Mayor Abraham Beame in the 1970's, earning a 
reputation as a fearless advocate who unmasked fraudulent merchants and 
inspired consumers to boycott overpriced goods.-
  But it was perhaps through her grass-roots activism that Elinor 
Guggenheimer made her greatest impact. In 1948, she founded the Day 
Care Council of New York. She went on to establish the Child Care 
Action Campaign, the National Committee for the Day Care of Children, 
and the Staten Island Children's Campaign. She became perhaps the most 
prominent advocate in the nation for better child care, not just for 
the convenience of working mothers, but for the welfare of their 
children.
  A tireless activist, Elinor Guggenheimer also founded the New York 
Women's Forum to help women establish social and professional networks. 
She went on to found the New York Women's Agenda and the National 
Women's Political Caucus. In those roles, Elinor Guggenheimer inspired 
generations of women--including a young schoolteacher named Carolyn 
Maloney--to engage in the political process and to run and hold public 
office.
  Elinor Guggenheimer dedicated her life to serving others. In addition 
to her remarkable career as an activist, she was a philanthropist and 
humanitarian. Her efforts were credited as indispensable in securing 
the acquisition of the fabled Temple of Dendur by the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, located just a few blocks from her home on Manhattan's 
Upper East Side. She also served as Chair of the Women's Division of 
the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York and as an officer at 
its predecessor organization, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies.
  Throughout her whirlwind career as an activist, Elinor Guggenheimer 
remained devoted to her family. She was devoted to her late husband 
Randolph, who died in 1999; to her sons, Charles and Randolph, Jr.; and 
to her three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in 
recognizing the enormous contributions to civic and political life made 
by Elinor Guggenheimer, a true pioneer and civil rights activist in the 
finest traditions of our great republic.

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