Kelly, Edna F. (Edna Flannery), 1906-1997

<p>Edna Flannery Kelly, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. House and the first woman to represent Brooklyn, New York, in Congress, made her mark on the Foreign Affairs Committee supporting a broad sweep of American Cold War policies ranging from the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to intervention in the Vietnamese civil war. As chair of the Subcommittee on Europe, Congresswoman Kelly took a hard-line approach to America’s rivals in the Kremlin and in Soviet-sponsored regimes throughout the world.</p>

<p>Edna Patricia Kathleen Flannery was born on August 20, 1906, in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, the youngest of five daughters raised by Patrick Joseph Flannery, a horticulturalist, and Mary Ellen McCarthy Flannery. Edna Flannery graduated from East Hampton High School in 1924 and, in 1928 received a BA in history and economics from Hunter College in New York City. In the fall of 1928, Edna Flannery married Edward Leo Kelly, a Brooklyn lawyer. The couple raised two children: William and Maura. In January 1942, New York Governor Herbert Lehman appointed Edward Kelly as a judge on the New York City court. Less than eight months later, however, Kelly was killed in an automobile accident.</p>

<p>Only after her husband’s death did Edna Kelly seriously consider a career in politics. She had a powerful ally in Irwin Steingut, then the minority leader in the New York assembly and Brooklyn’s political boss. Steingut encouraged her to become active in local political organizations. She reorganized the women’s auxiliary of the ailing Madison Democratic Club and served as a research director for the New York state legislature from 1943 until 1949. In 1944 she was elected to three terms on the Democratic executive committee of Kings County, New York, and joined Steingut as a co-leader of the eighteenth assembly district.</p>

<p>Edna Kelly (née Flannery; August 20, 1906 – December 14, 1997) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.</p>

<p>Kelly was born in East Hampton, New York. She graduated from Hunter College in 1928. She was a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention, 1952 Democratic National Convention, 1956 Democratic National Convention, 1960 Democratic National Convention, and 1968 Democratic National Convention. 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. 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.</p>

<p>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. During her tenure, Kelly was responsible for measures that settled displaced people after World War II and refugees for Russia and Eastern Europe. She also helped to create the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.</p>