Not the First
To set the record straight, your obituary on Martin Abzug (July 20) incorrectly described his wife, Bella Abzug, as “the first Jewish woman ever sent to Capitol Hill.†The first Jewish woman in the House of Representatives was Florence Prag Kahn (1866-1948), a San Francisco Republican.
Florence Prag Kahn, representing the Fourth Congressional District, served six terms in the House from a special election in 1925 through 1936. (Her husband, Julius Kahn (1861-1924), had represented the same district from 1899 to 1903 and from 1905 to 1924.)
A humorous, independent woman, Florence Kahn was instrumental in getting legislation passed to build the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. Although she lost her office in a 1936 Democratic sweep, that year the Literary Digest said that as “a wit and jester, she had no equal in the House of Representatives.†According to the San Francisco Chronicle, she was rated one of the world’s most notable women of 1936.
After leaving office, she was active in Republican Party affairs and Jewish organizations such as Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. She was buried in the Home of Peace Cemetery at Colma, Calif.
ELEANOR GOLD HIRSCH
North Hollywood
