Geraldine Ferraro Remembered For Unique Style, Groundbreaking Political Impact

Former Queens Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, who became the first woman to run for vice president on a major American political ticket, was remembered Saturday as a spirited, down-to-earth and hard-working leader who inspired other women to take on challenges.

Ferraro, a Democrat, died Saturday in Boston at age 75 after a battle with cancer.

“I will never forget the excitement, exuberance and electricity in the San Francisco Convention Hall when Geraldine Ferraro accepted the nomination for vice-presidential candidate to run with Walter Mondale,” said Rockland County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack.

That was in 1984, when Ferraro and Walter Mondale went up against incumbents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. President Reagan and Vice President Bush won a landslide victory, but Ferraro’s role in the campaign opened the door for women to be considered as serious candidates for the nation’s top elected jobs.

“A woman who grew up in Newburgh, NY, became a congresswoman from Queens and then the first woman to run on a major party ticket,” said Cornell as she remembered Ferraro. “She became an iconic person who inspired women to take on challenges. I was part of the New York Delegations in 1984, and it was a never-to-be-forgotten event.”

Ferraro was a staunch advocate of women’s issues and before becoming a congresswoman had worked in the Queens District Attorney’s Office and launched the Special Victims Bureau, which focused on sex crimes, child abuse, domestic violence and violent crimes against senior citizens. Before becoming a lawyer, Ferraro was a second-grade teacher at P.S. 85 in Astoria, Queens, and also went on to spend 13 years at home raising her children.

“Gerry was spirited, breezy, down-to-Earth, hard-working and very smart,” Cornell said. “It is sad to lose this woman who was so completely a New Yorker. Raised by a single mother, a seamstress who sewed pearls onto wedding dresses to make a better life for her children, Gerry Ferraro is part of history. She will be missed.”

As chairwoman of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, Cornell arranged for Katie Dalton of New City in October 2009 to introduce Ferraro at the committee’s annual luncheon before a ballroom filled with 900 people. Dalton, who was a freshman at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack at the time, had done a project on Ferraro for National History Day while she was a student at Felix Festa Middle School in West Nyack and Cornell had arranged for Dalton to interview Ferraro by telephone.

At the time of the luncheon, Cornell said Ferraro was suffering the effects ofcancer she had since 1998 and that she was wheeled to the stage by her husband.

“She stood to speak and spoke with vigor and purpose and as usual minced no words,” Cornell recalled.

Here is the text of the introduction of Ferraro that was given by Katie Dalton, who is now a junior at Clarkstown South:

Good afternoon everyone.  My name is Katie Dalton.

I am currently in the 9^th grade at Clarkstown High School South in West Nyack, NY. 

Last year, as an 8^th grader, I was able to take 9H Global History at Felix Festa Middle School.  My classmates and I participated in a program called National History Day. 

National History Day is a competition that takes place over the school year.  Students choose a topic related to a given theme and then research and report on the topic.  “An Individual in History” was the theme for the 2008-2009 competition. 

I immediately thought of choosing someone in politics because of my interest in social studies and history and because I hope to pursue a career in law.  In addition, I wanted to select a woman from New York because many women who have played a major role in politics have come from this state. 

I decided to focus on Geraldine Ferraro because she was able to achieve something that no other woman had achieved.  The title of my exhibit was Geraldine Ferraro:  Changing the Face of Politics in America … and my thesis was:

Throughout her political career and culminating in the election of 1984, Geraldine Ferraro emerged as a role model by becoming the first woman in history to be chosen to run for vice president as part of a major party and, as a result, she changed many people’s perspectives of the role of women in politics.

I was very fortunate to receive help with my project from Congresswoman Nita Lowey, the Honorable Harriet Cornell, and even Ms. Ferraro.  My project placed 2^nd at both the regional and state levels.  Throughout this process, I learned more about the history of our nation and about the critical role women such as Geraldine Ferraro have played in  politics.

It is definitely possible to imagine that one day, hopefully soon, a woman will be sitting in the Oval Office and that will be due in great part to the legacy of Geraldine Ferraro.

I am both honored and privileged to be here today as this award is presented to a woman who has paved the way for other women in politics and who has provided an example of the heights to which young girls can hope to aspire.