Mildred P. Allen

Mildred Pomeranz Allen (born Hartford, Connecticut, 1908; died Milton, Massachusetts, October 1961) was an American politician. She was the first Jewish woman elected as Secretary of the State of Connecticut (1955-1959).[1]

Personal life

Mildred Pomeranz was born and raised in Hartford, the daughter of Morris and Anna (Landsberg) Pomeranz. Her mother emigrated from Russia before 1900. Mildred had two brothers.[2]

On November 7, 1935 Pomeranz married Edward N. Allen (1891-1972), who was to take over as president of the family Sage-Allen department store in 1941 after his mother's death. They had two children, Normand Francis Allen II (1935-2008) and Mary.

Music

Mildred played and taught piano as a young woman; she was a student of R. Augustus Lawson, an African-American concert pianist who became a dean at the Hartt College of Music.[3] As late as 1950 she appeared as a pianist with an ensemble from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.[4] She was also active in various Hartford-area musical organizations.

Politics

Mildred Allen's husband Edward was the mayor of Hartford 1947-8 and served as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955. Mildred, who had been active in civic organizations and Republican women's groups, ran for Secretary of State in 1954 and won by 14,309 votes - the largest margin of any state-level official in that year.[5]

She was also a delegate to the 1956 Republican National Convention from Connecticut.[6]

Awards and legacy

Allen received a distinguished citizen award from the Order Sons of Italy in America in 1958[7] and an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Hartford in 1960.[8]

Mildred and Edward Allen were among the "Founders" of the University of Hartford (and Edward served as a trustee); the university was created by the merger of Hillyer College, the Hartford Art School, and The Hartt School in 1957. After Mildred's death more than $40,000 was raised in her memory for the Hartt music library and in 1963 it was dedicated as the "Mildred P. Allen Memorial Library".[9]

References
  1. "First Jewish Woman Elected State Secretary of Connecticut Dies", The Detroit Jewish News, October 6, 1961, p. 31
  2. Daily Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut), December 27, 1955, page 6
  3. "Local News Notes", The Thompsonville Press, February 24, 1927, p. 5
  4. "College Hears Campus Chamber Music Concert in Hamlin Hall Thursday Night", The Trinity Tripod, March 22, 1950, p. 1
  5. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/sots/ElectionServices/StatementOfVote_PDFs/1954SOVpdf.pdf?la=en Connecticut Statement of Vote, 1954, p. 13
  6. "State GOP Head for San Francisco", Manchester Evening Herald, August 18, 1956, p. 3
  7. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 85th Congress, Second Session, Volume 104, Part 6, United States Government Printing Office, 1958, p. 8103
  8. One Hundred Years of Hartt: A Centennial Celebration of The Hartt School, Demaris Hansen, Wesleyan University Press, 2020, p. 58
  9. https://www.hartford.edu/academics/library/allen-library/ Allen Library website
Political offices
Preceded by
Charles B. Keats		 Secretary of State of Connecticut
1955-1959		 Succeeded by
Ella Grasso


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