Faith Seidenberg
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Faith Seidenberg (October 21, 1923 – January 16, 2015) was an attorney and civil rights activist who was best known for having entered the male-only establishment
McSorley's Old Ale House McSorley's Old Ale House, generally known as McSorley's, is the oldest Irish saloon in New York City. Opened in the mid-19th century at 15 East 7th Street, in today's East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, it was one of the last of the "Men ...
in Manhattan with fellow attorney
Karen DeCrow Karen DeCrow ( Lipschultz; December 18, 1937 – June 6, 2014) was an American attorney, author, activist and feminist. She served as the fourth national president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1974 to 1977. She was also a str ...
on August 10, 1969. When refused service, they sued and won a landmark ruling barring discrimination in public places on the basis of sex.


Early life

She was born Faith Lenore April in Manhattan on October 21, 1923. She attended
Calhoun School The Calhoun School is a progressive, co-educational, independent school on New York City's Upper West Side, serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade. Founded in 1896, the school currently has approximately 600 students, housed in two sepa ...
in New York and then
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
. In her senior year at Syracuse, she became engaged to Robert Seidenberg, and they wed in 1944. She later attended Syracuse Law School, graduating in 1954 as one of only two women in the class.


Legal and activist career

She started her career in Syracuse as a public defender. There she represented the rights of minors to have legal representation when appearing in court. In 1963, she was invited by attorney
William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...
to become one of a group of volunteer lawyers defending civil rights workers on the voter registration drive in the southern United States. She spent two summers in Mississippi and Louisiana, following which she became an attorney for the
Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission ...
(CORE). She also defended Bruce Dancis, a draft-card burner at Cornell University, during the time of the Vietnam War. Seidenberg also worked on issues of
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
. She was at one point a national vice president for the
National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
. In 1992, she took on a
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
case involving the women's ice hockey team at
Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...
. This was the first case to convert a university's women's athletic club to a varsity team under the Title IX law and was considered a landmark case for the law. She was on the Executive Board of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, where she established the Women’s Legal Defense Fund of the ACLU. She is best known, though, for her landmark legal case against McSorley's Old Ale House. In 1969, she and
Karen DeCrow Karen DeCrow ( Lipschultz; December 18, 1937 – June 6, 2014) was an American attorney, author, activist and feminist. She served as the fourth national president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1974 to 1977. She was also a str ...
entered the all-male establishment, and were refused service. They sued for discrimination. The case decision made the front page of ''The New York Times'' on June 26, 1970. The suit, ''Seidenberg v. McSorleys' Old Ale House'' (1970, United States District Court, S. D. New York) established that, as a public place, the ale house could not violate the
Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. Her papers covering the time that she served as vice president of the National Organization for Women, are held at the
Harvard Library Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...
.


Private life

Her husband, Robert Seidenberg, was a psychiatrist. He served as president of the Greater Syracuse chapter of NOW. He died in 2010. They had three daughters, named Laurie, Dana, and Lisa.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidenberg, Faith 1923 births 2015 deaths New York (state) lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers Syracuse University College of Law alumni People from Fayetteville, New York National Organization for Women people People from Manhattan American Civil Liberties Union people Activists from Syracuse, New York Lawyers from Syracuse, New York 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women