THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Faith Seidenberg

October 21, 1923 – January 16, 2015

“The NYCLU is forever grateful for the groundwork she laid and will continue to protect and promote the rights and liberties she worked so hard to safeguard.”
– Donna Lieberman, Executive Director, The New York Civil Liberties Union

Attorney and civil rights activist known for having entered the male-only establishment McSorley’s Old Ale House in Manhattan with fellow attorney Karen DeCrow on August 10, 1969. When refused service, they sued and won a landmark ruling barring discrimination in public places on the basis of sex. Vice President National Organization for Women, NOW’s Legal Defense Fund. First president at Legal Momentum.

Photo 1. Faith Seidenberg and Karen DeCrow in front of McSorley’s Old Ale House, 1970.