Mildred Schwab
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mildred Schwab
| image =
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| office = Portland City Commissioner
| term_start = December 29, 1972
| term_end = January 5, 1987
| predecessor = Neil Goldschmidt
| successor = Earl Blumenauer
| constituency =
| birth_date = {{birth-date|January 9, 1917}}
| birth_place = Portland, Oregon
| death_date = {{circa|{{dda|January 13, 1999|January 9, 1917}}}}
| death_place = Portland, Oregon
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{{use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
Mildred A. Schwab{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?&a=4937&c=27134|title=City Elected Officials Since 1913|publisher=Office of Auditor Mary Hull Caballero|access-date=February 11, 2016}} (January 9, 1917 – {{circa| January 13, 1999)}} was an attorney and politician from Portland, Oregon, in the United States. She served as a City Commissioner from 1973 to 1986;{{cite web | author= Cogswell, Philip | title=Mildred Schwab (1917–1999) | publisher=The Oregon Encyclopedia | url=
http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/schwab_mildred_1917_1999_/ | access-date=November 11, 2012}} she was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Neil Goldschmidt was elected mayor, and was re-elected three times. Her brother, Herbert M. Schwab, served on the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Life
She was born in Portland to Jewish immigrants and grew up in northeast Portland,{{cite web
| url = http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.cfm?a=149247&c=44053
| title = Mildred Schwab
| date = March 26, 2007
| publisher=Bureau of Human Resources, City of Portland
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609073615/http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.cfm?a=149247&c=44053
| archive-date=June 9, 2011
| access-date = November 11, 2012
}} at the poor end of lower middle class.{{cite web
| url = http://surgeonsblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/moomump.html
| title = Moomump
| author = Sid Schwab (Mildred's nephew)
| date = April 30, 2008
| access-date = 2009-04-02
}}
She attended Grant High School and the Northwestern School of Business. She was one of the first women to study law, and graduated from Northwestern College of Law (at Lewis & Clark College) in 1939 and qualified for the Oregon Bar. She worked as a lawyer until her appointment to the Portland City Council. She took office on the council on December 29, 1972.{{cite news|title=Schwab sworn in as new commissioner|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=December 29, 1972|at=Section 1, p. 21}}
In 1971, Portland still had two lunch spots closed to women. Schwab organized a sit-in at Perkins' Pub (in the basement of Lipman-Wolfe), which succeeded in opening the establishment to women. She also was part of a small group (also including Gretchen Kafoury) who opened City Club of Portland to women. She was the first woman nominated to be a Portland Rose Festival ambassador (or Royal Rosarian), though she declined the honor.
Part of her time as city commissioner was in charge of the police and fire departments—Portland's equivalent of police commissioner—for which she received great support.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwab, Mildred}}
Category:Jewish American people in Oregon politics
Category:20th-century Oregon politicians
Category:Kellogg School of Management alumni
Category:Portland City Council members (Oregon)
Category:Lewis & Clark College alumni
Category:Women city councillors in Oregon