Edna Kelly (née Flannery; August 20, 1906 – December 14, 1997) was an American politician who served ten terms as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from New York from 1949 to 1969.

Biography

Kelly was born in

East Hampton, New York The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a tot ...

. She graduated from Hunter College in 1928. She was a delegate to the

1948 Democratic National Convention The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W ...

1952 Democratic National Convention The 1952 Democratic National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 21 to July 26, 1952, which was the same arena the Republicans had gathered in a few weeks earlier for their national convention f ...

1956 Democratic National Convention The 1956 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for president and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for vice president. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chic ...

1960 Democratic National Convention The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles, California, on July 11–15, 1960. It nominated Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for president and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas for vice president. In ...

, and

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

. She spoke for the nomination of New York Governor W. Averell Harriman, touting his anti-communist credentials at the 1956 convention; and she seconded his nomination.

Tenure in Congress

She was elected to Congress in 1949 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew L. Somers and served from November 8, 1949 until January 3, 1969. She was a Democratic National Committee member from 1956 until 1968. Throughout her 19-year career in the House, Kelly was recognized for her expertise in foreign affairs, serving as the chair of the Subcommittee on Europe and retiring from Congress as the third ranking member of the

House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs o ...

. During her tenure, Kelly was responsible for measures that settled displaced people after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and refugees for Russia and Eastern Europe. She also helped to create the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. One news report pointed to her advocacy of "women's and social issues, drawing attention to inequities in pay, credit and tax policy, including what she considered inadequate deductions for child care." This work culminated in passage of the

Internal Revenue Code of 1954 Internal may refer to: * Internality as a concept in behavioural economics * Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts * Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *'' Internal (album)'' by Safia, 20 ...

. Kelly can also be credited with promoting the first equal pay for equal work bill, which she introduced in 1951. It was a landmark effort, which established a new era in the fight for women's equality. She was in attendance when President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

signed the Equal Pay Act into law June 10, 1963.

Redistricting and final campaign

Following redistricting, Kelly challenged

Dean of the United States House of Representatives The dean of the United States House of Representatives is the longest continuously serving member of the House. The current dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican Party U.S. Representative from Kentucky, who has served in the House since 1981. The dea ...

Emanuel Celler Emanuel Celler (May 6, 1888 – January 15, 1981) was an American politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives for almost 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. He served as the dean of the United States H ...

in the 1968 Democratic primary election instead of

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...

, who was backed by local party leader

Stanley Steingut Stanley Steingut (May 20, 1920 – December 8, 1989) was an American politician, New York Democratic Party leader, insurance brokerage owner, and lawyer. He took over his father's position as boss of Brooklyn County Democratic politics and event ...

in the redrawn 12th district and ultimately succeeded Kelly. She lost to Celler. Several years later, Celler would be narrowly defeated by

Elizabeth Holtzman Elizabeth Holtzman (born August 11, 1941) is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party from 1973 to 1981. She the ...

in the 1972 Democratic primary.

Family

She was married to New York City Court Justice Edward L. Kelly of Brooklyn, who was killed in a 1942 car crash.

Death

Kelly died in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

of cancer and a series of strokes at the age of 91. She had two children, eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Sources

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Edna 1906 births 1997 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Female members of the United States House of Representatives Hunter College alumni People from East Hampton (town), New York Women in New York (state) politics 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians American people of Irish descent