Grasso, Ella

Grasso, Ella (b. Tambussi)

(1919–89) U.S. representative, governor; born in Windsor Locks, Conn. A Mt. Holyoke graduate, she served in the state house of representatives (Dem., 1953–55), becoming Connecticut's secretary of state (1958–70). In the U.S. House of Representatives (1971–75) she sponsored the Emergency Employment Act of 1971. The first woman elected governor of any state in her own right (1975–80) she was fiscally hampered from pursuing progressive legislation.