RG 069:133, Marilyn P.A. Seichter Collection

Inventory

Finding aid prepared by Melissa L. Hendrick and Chad H. Watkins.

Copyright © 2007 by the Connecticut State Library

Biographical Note

Marilyn P.A. Seichter was born on May 23, 1945 in Wallingford, Connecticut. Growing up she attended Holy Trinity School and graduated in 1963 from Lyman Hall High School, both located in Wallingford. She then went on to pursue her undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut, majoring in Political Science and becoming active in student government. After graduating in 1967 she attended the University of Connecticut School of Law from 1969 to 1970, becoming one of a first women to obtain a law degree from that institution. In the fall of 1970 Seichter joined the law firm of Hyman, Cantor and Klau, eventually rising to partner in the firm that was renamed to Hyman, Cantor, Seichter, and Klau. Seichter specialized in the fields of women's rights and family law. She worked on Abele v. Markle ("Women v. Connecticut"), the case that overturned Connecticut's law prohibiting abortion prior to the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. She also successfully represented the National Organization for Women (NOW) in a suit filed against 35 newspapers to stop the practice of segregated newspaper ads for men and women. She became friends of Ella T. Grasso and worked on Grasso's gubernatorial campaign. Seichter became the first woman chairperson of the Connecticut Ethics Commission, the first woman president of the Connecticut Bar Association (1989-1990) and had served as chair of the Young Lawyers Section (1980-1981), president of the Hartford Local Unit of the Young Lawyers Section, chair of the Marriage and Family Counseling and Conciliation Committee, delegate to the House of Delegates, and a member of the Mediation and Arbitration Executive Committee of the American Bar Association. She also served as president of the New England Bar Association (1991-1992), president of the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, and was a member of the Governor's Ad Hoc Committee on Judicial Selection and the Committee on the Status of Women. She died on February 10, 2002 from Huntington's disease.

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Scope and Content

The collection includes middle and high school materials, University of Connecticut undergraduate materials, University of Connecticut Law School materials, materials from her professional career and association with Ella Grasso. The range of materials includes correspondence, news clippings, publications, awards, photographs, and memorabilia.

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Arrangement

Series 1. Middle and High School materials (1954-1963) contains autograph books, college acceptance letters, correspondence, diplomas, graduation material, memorabilia, photographs of classmates, report cards, and a yearbook.

Series 2. University of Connecticut Undergraduate materials (1963-1968) contains calendars, correspondence, course grades, a diploma, graduation material, law school recommendation and acceptance letters. Memorabilia, news clippings, photographs, student government material, student identification cards, and a yearbook.

Series 3. University of Connecticut Law School materials (1968-1970) contains correspondence, course material, a diploma, event material, graduation material, news clippings and publications.

Series 4. Professional Career (1970-2002) contains admission certificates to the Connecticut Bar, the U.S. District Court of Connecticut, and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, awards, and material related to the Connecticut Bar Association, Ethics Commission, New England Bar Association, Committee on the Status of Women and the Women v. Connecticut lawsuit. Also included are a small amount of papers related to case work, general correspondence, news clippings, programs and publications.

Series 5. Ella Grasso material (1973-1987) contains materials related to Grasso's gubernatorial campaign, her inaugurations, her memorial service and statue, and photographs.

Series 6. Personal documents (1945-1988) Contains Seichter's birth certificate, working paper, and a manuscript autobiography.

Series 7. Photographs (1945-1994) contains photographs of Seichter, including one with Geraldine Ferraro, and one with Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Ellen Peters taken in the courtroom, as well as baby photographs and studio photographs.

Series 8. Memorabilia (1963-1996).

Series 9. Oversize contains oversize material separated from other series.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

These records are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.

Restrictions on Use

See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.

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Related Material

RG 009:006, Office of the Attorney General: Abele v. Markle Records, Connecticut State Library.

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Index Terms

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Marilyn Seichter assembled this collection herself. The Connecticut State Library obtained it from her nephew Daniel Seichter on June 15, 2006.

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Container List