Hazel Abel (née Hempel; July 10, 1888July 30, 1966) was an American
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and
politician in the
U.S. state of
Nebraska, who served as a member of the
United States Senate for fifty-four days in 1954. She was the first woman
elected to the Senate
from Nebraska, and she remains the shortest-serving senator from Nebraska.
Early life
Abel was born in
Plattsmouth, Nebraska, the daughter of Charles Hempel and Ella Hempel. She attended the public schools of
Omaha, Nebraska and graduated from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1908. She worked as a high school mathematics teacher and principal in
Papillion, Nebraska,
Ashland, Nebraska, and
Crete, Nebraska before working as secretary, treasurer, and eventually president of her husband's construction company.
Political career
Abel was a delegate to the Nebraska State Republican Conventions from 1939 to 1948 and from 1952 to 1956. In 1954 Abel was elected to be the vice chairman of the State Republican Central Committee. That same year she was elected to complete the unexpired term of
Sen.
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "th ...
Dwight Griswold, who had died in office. She became the first woman elected from
Nebraska to serve in the Senate, as well as the first woman to follow another woman in a Senate seat, as
Eva Bowring had previously been appointed to the seat to serve until an election was held. She served in the Senate from November 8, 1954 until her resignation on December 31, 1954. She resigned three days before the expiration of her term, to give fellow Republican Carl Curtis of Nebraska, elected to the six–year term in November, a seniority advantage. She later observed that she campaigned for the two–month term to raise the visibility of women in political office. “To me it was more than just a short term in the Senate,” Abel recalled for ''Newsweek''. “I wanted Nebraska voters to express their approval of a woman in government. I was sort of a guinea pig.” While in the Senate, she voted to censure
Sen.
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "th ...
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
from
Wisconsin, in the
Army–McCarthy hearings
The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of televised hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations (April–June 1954) to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph ...
. Abel was the fifth of six Senators to serve during the fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska's Class 2 seat (January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1955).
She was a delegate to the White House Conference on Education in 1955, and chairwoman of the Nebraska delegation to the
1956 Republican National Convention
The 1956 Republican National Convention was held by the Republican Party of the United States at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, from August 20 to August 23, 1956. U.S. Senator William F. Knowland was temporary chairman and forme ...
. From 1955 to 1959 she was a member of the
Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Commission, and in 1957 she was named "American Mother of the Year". She also served as the president and founder of the
Nebraska Federation of Republican Women
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
, and was on the board of trustees at
Doane College and
Nebraska Wesleyan College. She tried unsuccessfully to win the Republican nomination for
Governor of Nebraska in 1960.
Death and legacy
She died in
Lincoln, Nebraska on July 30, 1966 and is interred in
Wyuka Cemetery
Wyuka Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In 1890, Lincoln's Bnai Jeshurun Congregation, a Reform congregation, began using a section of Wyuka.
History
Wyuka Cemetery was established in Lincoln, Nebraska, by an act of the ...
in Lincoln.
Hazel Abel Park in Lincoln is named in her honor.
Family life
Abel married George Abel in 1916, and they had five children, Helen, George, Hazel, Alice, and Annette.
See also
*
Women in the United States Senate
References
Further reading
*''Biographical Director of the United States Congress, 1774-1989: Bicentennial Edition.'' United States: Government Printing Office, 1989.
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Hazel
1888 births
1966 deaths
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
Female United States senators
Nebraska Republicans
People from Plattsmouth, Nebraska
Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska
Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska
Republican Party United States senators from Nebraska
University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni
Women in Nebraska politics