Lillian D. Rock (August 6, 1896 – 1974) was an American lawyer and political activist. Rock is best remembered as the founder in 1935 of the League for a Woman President and Vice President.

Rock in 1935

Biography

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Early years

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Lillian D. Rock was born August 6, 1896, in New York City to Joel Rock and the former Ida Libby Gross.[1]

Following high school she obtained an undergraduate degree before enrolling in Brooklyn Law School, from which she graduated in 1923.[1] She passed the New York state bar exam in 1925 and entered practice with her brother Nathaniel as part of the New York City law firm Rock and Rock.[1] The pair remained in practice for over a decade, handling more than 5,000 cases by their own count.[1]

Political activism

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Rock was active in the National Association of Women Lawyers.

In 1935 Rock founded a political organization called League for a Woman President and Vice President, with its mission the persuasion of one of the major American political parties to nominate a woman for one or both of these top executive governmental positions by 1940.[2]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b c d Dorothy Thomas, "Lillian Rock (1896–1974)," in Paula E. Hyman and Deborah Dash Moore (eds.), Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. In Two Volumes. New York: Routledge, 1997; vol. 2, pg. 1161.
  2. ^ Jill Lepore, "The X-Factor," The New Yorker, March 10, 2014.

Works

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  • "The Need for and the Purpose of the National Association of Women Lawyers," Women Lawyers' Journal, vol. 18 (1930), pp. 15–17.

Further reading

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  • Obituary, New York Times, May 15, 1974, pg. 48.