Straus, Ellen Sulzberger, 1925-1955

Ellen Sulzberger Straus (March 11, 1925 – February 24, 1995) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who founded the United States' first telephone help line. Her uncle was The New York Times publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger and her grandfather was Cyrus Leopold Sulzberger. She worked as the executive secretary of the New York League of Women Voters and later on the staff of the Atomic Energy Commission eventually becoming the assistant director of public information. In the 1950s, she began writing a column for McCall's magazine. In 1963, she founded the United States' first telephone help line, a non-profit entitled Call for Action.