Grasso, Ella, 1919-1981

<p>Connecticut Representative Ella Grasso’s brief House career bridged two decades of service in state government and two trailblazing terms as the state’s governor. In Congress she concerned herself primarily with combating rampant unemployment in her district while preparing for her triumphant return to Connecticut politics. Throughout her long career in state and national politics, on issues ranging from civil rights to campaign finance reform, Grasso sensed the public mood and positioned herself at the forefront of the legislative response.</p>

<p>Ella Rose Giovanna Oliva Tambussi was born on May 10, 1919, in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, the only child of Italian immigrants Giacomo and Maria Oliva Tambussi. Ella Tambussi, who spoke fluent Italian, attended St. Mary’s School in Windsor Locks, and the Chaffee School in Windsor. She received a BA in 1940 from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Two years later, she received a master’s degree in both economics and sociology from Mount Holyoke. After graduating in 1942, Ella Tambussi married Thomas Grasso, a schoolteacher and principal. The couple raised two children: Susane and James. Ella Grasso served as a researcher and, then, assistant director of research for the war manpower commission of Connecticut from 1943 to 1946.</p>

<p>Grasso first became involved in politics as a member of the League of Women Voters. She later credited that experience with helping her develop “a real understanding of issues.” She recalled, “I realized early on that if I was concerned with problems, the best way of getting them solved was to be part of the decision-making process.” The veteran of local campaign organizations and a protégé of Connecticut’s legendary Democratic leader John Bailey (a close ally of John F. Kennedy and future chairman of the Democratic National Committee), Grasso entered electoral politics in 1952 when she won a seat in the state house of representatives. According to politicians familiar with both Grasso and Bailey, the Connecticut political boss saw Grasso as an important draw for women voters and, as an Italian American, a prominent member of an increasingly important ethnic minority in state politics long dominated by Irish Americans.</p>

Born in Windsor Locks in 1919 to Italian immigrants, Ella Tambussi Grasso attended local schools while growing up and later received her BA and MA from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. A lifelong Connecticut resident, Ella chose a life of politics for herself. From 1952 to 1957, she served in the Connecticut House of Representatives, and in 1958 voters elected her to the office of Connecticut Secretary of the State. In 1970, she was elected to the US Congress, a position she held until 1975 when she became Connecticut’s Governor. In winning that 1974 election, she become the first woman governor in the US to be elected “in her own right.” (Others had won governorships previously held by their husbands.) In addition to politics, Grasso had a full life raising her two children with husband Thomas Grasso, who she married in 1942. Ella Grasso died at age 61 from ovarian cancer. President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, and in 1993 she was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.

<p>Ella Rosa Giovianna Oliva Grasso, née Tambussi (May 10, 1919 – February 5, 1981) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 83rd Governor of Connecticut from January 8, 1975, to December 31, 1980, after rejecting past offers of candidacies for Senate and Governor. She was the first woman elected to this office and the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state without having been the spouse or widow of a former governor. She resigned as governor due to her battle with ovarian cancer.</p>

<p>Grasso started in politics as a member of the League of Women Voters and Democratic speechwriter. She was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1952 and later became the first female Floor Leader in 1955. She was then elected as Secretary of State of Connecticut in 1958 and served until 1971. Grasso went on to serve two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1970 to 1974. Then she was elected Governor in 1974 and re-elected in 1978.</p>