Hazel Hempel Abel

Hazel Hempel Abel

Hazel Hempel Abel (born July 10, 1888 in Plattsmouth , Cass County , Nebraska , † July 30, 1966 in Lincoln , Nebraska) was an American politician who represented the state of Nebraska in the US Senate .

biography

Early life

Hazel Abel grew up in Omaha and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in Education in 1908 . As a mathematics teacher , Abel worked for eight years, until 1916, at schools in Papillion , Ashland and Crete , and was even elected director.

After initial difficulties that the image of women at the time brought with it, Abel went into the business world, opened a construction company - atypical for a woman of her time - and was President of Abel Construction Co. from 1937 to 1952. Then she sat on the board of directors for another year, until 1953.

Political career

In 1954 Abel became vice-chairman of the Republican Central Committee . She was elected as Griswold's successor in the US Senate on November 2, 1954 after the death of Dwight Griswold and the tenure of the interim candidate Eva Kelly Bowring . The office, which Abel assumed on November 8, 1954, she held only one and a half months, since she resigned voluntarily on December 31, 1954.

Late life

Even after her resignation, Abel was politically active. In 1955 she was a member of a conference in Washington, DC on the improvement of the school system. A year later, in 1956, she led the delegates from Nebraska to the Republican National Convention in San Francisco .

At the same time she served as a supervisor at two schools, Doane College and Nebraska Wesleyan College . Hazel Abel, whose personal life is unknown, died on July 30, 1966, shortly after her 80th birthday.

Web links

• Hazel Hempel Abel in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)