Louise Slaughter (August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018)

Posted by [email protected] | Mar 17, 2018 | Politics | 0 |

With Congresswoman Louise Slaughter at the MLK Conference on Finding Solutions, Wilson Foundation Academy, Rochester, NY 1/16/16 from On his Day, remembering when Martin Luther King visited Rochester, January 7th, 1958

Like many Rochestarians, I first heard about the passing of Louise Slaughter while listening to Joshua Johnson’s 1A on NPR. The WXXI anchor interrupted the program with what he said was sad news. There was a slight pause and in that pause my heart sank and I knew.

Button from the 2016 MLK Conference on Finding Solutions, Rochester, NY 1/16/16.

An hour our so later, on Connections, Evan Dawson hosted a special two hour program on her life and legacy. Caller after caller said the same things. Louise was a force of nature, a fighter, a liberal lion, a trailblazer, gracious, giving of her time and energy and friend of colleagues on both sides of the aisle and — over the years — tens of thousands of constituents.

Yard signs in Brighton October, 2016. From On October 19th, 2012 when Bill Clinton campaigned for Louise Slaughter. And a Socialist at the public market

I can’t add much more to her deserved praise. In the two times I met her she was gracious and giving of her time. At the 2016, MLK Conference on Finding Solutions Louise gave the keynote speech. She easily could have left the conference then, but instead stayed for the entire sessions, fully engaged with the issues and attendees.

SEE On his Day, remembering when Martin Luther King visited Rochester, January 8th, 1958

As seen in Iakaonne´tha ne oneka, I talked with Louise when she spoke at a Liberty Pole Way rally against the Keystone Pipeline.

From Iakaonne´tha ne oneka

I also met Louise on Election Day, 2016 in Mt. Hope Cemetery as thousands of people made a pilgrimage to the grave of Susan B. Anthony. On that day, Louise won her 16th and final term.

With Representative Louise Slaughter (center) and friend [Photo: member of Louise’ staff] 11/08/16 from On the Other Side: a montage of Rochester’s resting places. And Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite on Election Day.

Buttons provided by Carol Kramer, a huge Louise fan.

SEE On the Other Side: a montage of Rochester’s resting places. And Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite on Election Day.

In a blast from the past, I recently learned that in 1972 Louise was the Co-Chair of the local Citizens for McGovern committee. And she was a force of nature ever since.

SEE In 72 when McGovern campaigned in Rochester before Nixon’s landslide victory

Front page, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 3/17/18

SEE ALSO

On October 19th, 2012 when Bill Clinton campaigned for Louise Slaughter. And a Socialist at the public market

On his Day, remembering when Martin Luther King visited Rochester, January 8th, 1958

Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite on Election Day and the day after

In ’72 when McGovern campaigned in Rochester before Nixon’s landslide victory

About The Author

[email protected]

Welcome to Talker of the Town! My name is David Kramer. I have a Ph.D in English and teach at Keuka College. I am a former and still active Fellow at the Nazareth College Center for Public History and a Storyteller in Residence at the SmallMatters Institute. Over the years, I have taught at Monroe Community College, the Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College. I have published numerous Guest Essays, Letters, Book Reviews and Opinion pieces in The New York Times, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Buffalo News, the Rochester Patriot, the Providence Journal, the Providence Business News, the Brown Alumni Magazine, the New London Day, the Boston Herald, the Messenger Post Newspapers, the Wedge, the Empty Closet, the CITY, Lake Affect Magazine and Brighton Connections. My poetry appears in The Criterion: An International Journal in English and Rundenalia and my academic writing in War, Literature and the Arts and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Starting in February 2013, I wrote for three Democratic and Chronicle blogs, "Make City Schools Better," "Unite Rochester," and the "Editorial Board." When my tenure at the D & C ended, I wanted to continue conversations first begun there. And start new ones. So we created this new space, Talker of the Town, where all are invited to join. I don’t like to say these posts are “mine.” Very few of them are the sole product of my sometimes overheated imagination. Instead, I call them partnerships and collaborations. Or as they say in education, “peer group work.” Talker of the Town might better be Talkers of the Town. The blog won’t thrive without your leads, text, pictures, ideas, facebook shares, tweets, comments and criticisms.