1929-2018
Long-time friend and colleague of National Women’s Hall of Fame, Louise Slaughter will long be remembered and honored for her steady and true leadership. In Louise Slaughter we have a woman whose leadership stood on the ground of history while shaping a more just future. Serving 16 terms in Congress, Inductee of the Hall House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi described Slaughter today as a “trailblazer,” inspiring “countless young women to know their power, and seek their rightful place at the head of the decision-making table.” When inducted in 2013, Pelosi recalled how Louise Slaughter had brought her and other women leaders to Seneca Falls to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1848 first women’s convention. Congresswoman Slaughter was also a champion of the Hall’s current project to rehabilitate the Mill, cheering on the groundbreaking in her characteristic way of bringing women’s history together with upstate New York’s future, saying how happy she was to see the historic Seneca Knitting Mill “joined together with the National Women’s Hall of Fame, which is so richly deserving of this new home.”
Louise Slaughter was 88 years of age, first woman to have chaired the House Rules Committee, remembered as “fearless,” co-author of the Violence Against Women Act, author of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and a significant voice in countless ways in Congress. Hall president and professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Betty M. Bayer reflects: “We will greatly miss our friend and colleague Louise Slaughter – leader of hope whose courage stands tall in the history of women who have lead in the name of justice, equality and liberty.” Congresswoman Slaughter’s degree in science and microbiology and her Masters of Science in Public Health are recalled by Hall board member and Managing Director of Luminate, Sujatha Ramanujan: “We have lost one of the strongest advocates for women and minorities, for technology, and for this region today. We shall honor he memory by maintaining her legacy of hope and strength.”
The Hall joins Congresswoman Slaughter’s friends, family, and colleagues to mourn our loss of her voice, her fortitude and her compassion.