Mildred Schwab | |
---|---|
Portland City Commissioner | |
In office December 29, 1972 – January 5, 1987 | |
Preceded by | Neil Goldschmidt |
Succeeded by | Earl Blumenauer |
Personal details | |
Born | January 9, 1917 Portland, Oregon |
Died |
c. January 13, 1999 (aged 82) Portland, Oregon |
Mildred A. Schwab [1] (January 9, 1917 – c. January 13, 1999) was an attorney and politician from Portland, Oregon, in the United States. She served as a City Commissioner from 1973 to 1986; [2] she was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Neil Goldschmidt was elected mayor, and was re-elected three times. [2] Her brother, Herbert M. Schwab, served on the Oregon Court of Appeals. [2]
She was born in Portland to Jewish immigrants and grew up in northeast Portland, [3] at the poor end of lower middle class. [4] She attended Grant High School and the Northwestern School of Business. She was one of the first women to study law, and graduated from Northwestern College of Law (at Lewis & Clark College) in 1939 and qualified for the Oregon Bar. She worked as a lawyer until her appointment to the Portland City Council. [3] She took office on the council on December 29, 1972. [5]
In 1971, Portland still had two lunch spots closed to women. Schwab organized a sit-in at Perkins' Pub (in the basement of Lipman-Wolfe), which succeeded in opening the establishment to women. She also was part of a small group (also including Gretchen Kafoury) who opened City Club of Portland to women. She was the first woman nominated to be a Portland Rose Festival ambassador (or Royal Rosarian), though she declined the honor. [3]
Part of her time as city commissioner was in charge of the police and fire departments—Portland's equivalent of police commissioner [3]—for which she received great support. [4]