Former Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman (D-Md.), one of six Jewish women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives during the last two decades, died Sunday at the age of 70.
Spellman went into a coma when she suffered a severe heart attack on Oct. 31, 1980, just days before she was re-elected to her fourth term. She never regained consciousness.
In February 1981, the House declared her seat vacant, the first time ever this was done because of a disability.
Her husband, Reuben, ran for the seat but lost in the Democratic primary to Steny Hoyer, the current representative of the district, which is just outside Washington.
During her six years in Congress, Spellman was a staunch advocate of Israel and the struggle for Soviet Jewry. She visited the Soviet Union to meet with refuseniks and Soviet government officials.
Born on March 2, 1918, in New York, Spellman grew up in Washington and was graduated from grew up in Washington and was graduated from George Washington University. She was elected to Congress in 1974.
The only Jewish woman currently in Congress is Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Rep. Sala Burton (D-Calif.), who was also re-elected to the current Congress, died last year.
Three other Jewish women members of Congress, Bella Abzug and Elizabeth Holtzman, both New York Democrats, and Bobbi Fiedler (R-Calif.), gave up their House seats to make unsuccessful bids for the Senate.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
