Friedlander, Miriam Sigel, 1914-2009

Miriam Sigel was born in Pittsburgh in 1914 to David Sigel and Hannah Lipman who were refugees from Ukraine and Russia. She graduated from New York University in 1935 with a bachelor's degree in education and in 1939 married Mark Friedlander. The couple had a son whom they named Paul, in memory of her brother who died in Spain fighting with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. During the Spanish Civil War, Friedlander received letters from her brother Paul, and their mutual friends Ernest Arion, and Harold Malofsky. Friedlander was a progressive Democratic Party City Council member who represented the East Village and Lower East Side in the City Council between 1973 and 1991. She advocatee on behalf of tenants and in opposition to gentrification, and for gay and lesbian issues, the homeless, and women's rights. She was widely believed to have been at one time a member of the Communist Party USA. Friedlander was involved in two Downtown political organizations, CoDA and Village Independent Democrats. She was a lifelong supporter of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.