Trailblazer Politician Luisa DeLauro Dies At 103

NEW HAVEN, CT — Luisa DeLauro, a female pioneer in New Haven politics and mother of longtime U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro passed away over the weekend at the age of 103.

Luisa DeLauro is the longest-serving alder in city history with a tenure that spanned 35 years. She was raised in Wooster Square and was first elected in 1965. Many female politicians in the New Haven area including New Haven's first female Mayor Toni Harp consider her a trailblazer and mentor.

Longtime former Mayor John DeStefano recalled her as an authentic person who wasn't afraid of hard work. She helped him campaign when he first ran for mayor in 1989.

“My mother was no stranger to hard work,” DeLauro said. “When I was growing up, she worked in a sweatshop, sewing shirt collars for pennies. Every day after school, she would make me come by to see the horrible, cramped conditions. It is something I will never forget. The lesson she passed on was clear: work hard. Make something of yourself. Get a good education.”

Luisa DeLauro and husband Ted helped immigrants integrate into American life. Luisa was a founder of the popular Cherry Blossom Festival that still draws crowds to Wooster Square every year. Wooster Square was declared the city's first historic district. She was a strong advocate for the working poor and seniors, two groups that her daughter now advocates for in Congress.

“My mother has always been my greatest inspiration and I will miss her greatly. She taught me the most valuable of lessons of my life,” DeLauro said. “She understood that politics was an avenue for change—a way to help people who were struggling."

DeLauro's editorial in a 1933 Tenth Ward Democratic Club newsletter strongly encouraged women to become active in politics when women were virtually unheard.

"We are not living in the middle ages when a women’s part in life was merely to serve her master in her home, but we have gradually taken our place in every phase of human endeavor, and even in the here-to-for stronghold of the male sex: politics.” she said. "...Come on girls, let’s make ourselves heard.”

Funeral arrangements are being made by the Iovanne Funeral Home.

Image via Rosa DeLauro office