SHIRLEY SIEGEL

SIEGEL--Shirley. Shirley Adelson Siegel, Trailblazing attorney who graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College in 1937, received the Barnard Student International Fellowship for study at the London School of Economics, and enrolled as the only woman in the Yale Law School Class of 1941. Chosen to be on the Editorial Board of the Yale Law Journal, she was nevertheless turned down by over 40 firms before being hired as the first woman attorney at Proskauer, Rose. In the evenings she volunteered as a Member of the Board of the New York ACLU, for which she drafted an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case brought by Japanese American citizens challenging their internment. After a few years in Los Angeles, she returned to New York, founded the New York State Civil Rights Bureau, served as General Counsel of the New York Housing Development Corporation, and rose to become Solicitor General of the State of New York. She taught law and worked pro bono into her mid-90's. Ms. Siegel was the recipient of numerous awards, and one of the three Public Interest Fellowships awarded annually by the Yale Law Journal is named after her. At Barnard College's commencement in 2019, when she was 100 years old, she was presented with the Barnard Medal of Distinction for her "trailblazing civil rights and fair housing" work. She died on June 22, 2020, as a result of a stroke at her home in Manhattan. She was the beloved daughter of Henry and Rose Adelson of New York City, sister of Dorothy and Bernice, widow of Elwood Siegel (died 1994) and Henry Fagin (died 2009). She is survived by a son, Eric D. Siegel, a daughter, Ann B. Siegel, a son-in-law, Michael Fischer, and a grandson, Samuel H. M. Fischer. Contributions in her memory can be made to the ACLU. A memorial service will be held at a later date; to be notified contact: eric333444@aol.com.