Strauss, Annette, 1924-1998

<p>Annette Louise Greenfield Strauss (January 26, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American philanthropist and politician who served as the 55th mayor of Dallas. The Annette Strauss Artist Square in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas is named in honor of her. She was the second female mayor and the second Jewish mayor of Dallas (Adlene Harrison was first; Laura Miller was the third). She was also the first woman elected to the post in her own right; Harrison served as a caretaker for the last months of Wes Wise's term after Wise resigned to run for Congress.</p>

<p>Born in Houston, Texas, Annette Strauss graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1944. She moved to New York City where she received master's degrees in sociology and psychology from Columbia University. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She worked as a Red Cross social worker in Houston for a year until she married Ted Strauss, Sr. Managing Director of Bear Stearns, in 1946 and moved to Dallas in 1947.</p>

<p>During the 1960s and 1970s, Strauss worked tirelessly as a fundraiser for various charities and organizations and also as a volunteer for a number of other organizations. She worked on behalf of the Dallas Symphony, the Crystal Charity Ball, Southern Methodist University, the United Way of America, the United Jewish Appeal, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Baylor University Medical Center and many other groups. Her efforts helped to raise millions for the arts in Dallas. Strauss was also one of the founding members of the Volunteer Center of North Texas.</p>

<p>Annette Greenfield was born in Houston, Texas, on January 26, 1924, the only child of Edith and Jacob Greenfield. She credited her father for instilling in her at an early age a strong sense of civic responsibility and commitment to public service. A stern disciplinarian and generous philanthropist, Jacob Greenfield inculcated in his only child a tremendous sense of responsibility to serve the country that had been so good to them.</p>

<p>He was her biggest influence; she recalls that her father liked to say, "What I have is what I've given away." Annette Greenfield grew up during the Depression. By age six, she was already raising money from her front porch by playing Ginger Rogers.</p>

<p>In high school and college, she concentrated on public speaking and was the first female to win two consecutive state speech championships. The benefits of this early introduction to a stage are readily apparent in her powerful public presence and in what Strauss characterizes as an ability "to think on my feet".</p>

<b>Annette Greenfield Strauss</b><br>
<b>BIRTH</b> 26 Jan 1924<br>
Harris County, Texas, USA<br>
<b>DEATH</b> 14 Nov 1998 (aged 74)<br>
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA<br>
<b>BURIAL</b><br>
Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park<br>
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li>05/06/1989 Dallas Mayor Won 72.38% (+52.12%)</li>
<li>04/18/1987 Dallas Mayor Won 55.99% (+11.99%)</li>
<li>04/04/1987 Dallas Mayor - Primary Won 43.12% (+16.77%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>Annette Greenfield Strauss made history in the spring of 1987 when she was elected as the first female and first Jewish mayor of Dallas. By then, she had already served on the city council since 1983 and as mayor pro tem since 1984.</p>

<p>A tireless worker for civic and religious causes, Annette Louise Greenfield Strauss was born in Houston, Texas, on January 26, 1924. Her parents were Edith and J. B. Greenfield, the son of a rabbi. After graduating from Houston public schools, Annette attended Rice University in her hometown for one year before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin. While at college, she was named Outstanding Woman Speaker in the Southwest. She graduated, Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1944. The following year, she earned a master’s degree in sociology and psychology at Columbia University, while working as a fashion model for the John Robert Powers agency. In 1946, she married Theodore H. Strauss. Three months later, the newlyweds moved to Dallas. The couple would go on to have two daughters.</p>

<p>Unable to get a paying job, Strauss began to volunteer for the United Jewish Appeal Drive. This first effort led to her remarkable career as Dallas’s most effective fund-raiser. She raised over $20 million as the leader of many citywide campaigns and projects. At the University of Texas Health Science Center, she established a chair in geriatrics. She also raised funds for the women’s division of the United Jewish Appeal, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the women’s division of the United Way and the Dallas County Heart Fund Campaign.</p>