Introduction to the Collection

Judge Elizabeth Bass Golding (1900-2001) was one of the first women to graduate New York University School of Law. She graduated second in her class in 1921, beaten out of first place by a fellow law student named Samuel Golding. She started a private law practice upon graduation, but events would soon move her into a more public forum. Prior to World War II, Elizabeth Bass Golding was an active member of the National Council of Jewish Women, the Nassau County Women's Bar Association, and served as a committee woman on the National Committee on Social Legislation. During the Second World War, Golding was appointed as vice chairperson for the Nassau County U.S.O., which operated out of Hempstead, near Mitchell Field.

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In the wake of the war, many American women realized that they had had a profound effect upon society as they stepped in to fulfill roles during the war. Elizabeth Bass Golding was determined to keep this momentum going. In 1944, Golding was the founder of the Woman's Forum of Nassau County (WFNC), a women's organization that worked to educate women regarding important social issues and to encourage women to lend their voices to the problems of the day. She acted as the Forum's president until 1952. During the 1950s, Golding became quite active in the political arena, becoming a committeewoman for the Massapequa Republican Club. Her advocacy for improving society would be rewarded in 1961, when she was appointed to the State Commission of Corrections. She served as a state commissioner, overseeing Houses of Detention for women and juveniles until 1963. That year, Nelson Rockefeller appointed her to the newly formed Family Court of Nassau County, where she would serve out the remainder of her career. In the 1970s, Judge Golding organized a series of foster group homes for disadvantaged youths under the program Hope for Youth. She retired in 1980.

The Judge Elizabeth Bass Golding Collection is composed of three series: Personal papers, the Woman's Forum of Nassau County, and Hope for Youth. Her personal papers include biographical sketches, interviews, drafts of her memoirs, correspondence, wedding and retirement documents, publications, speeches, and photographs. The Woman's Forum of Nassau County is composed of forum proceedings, publications, member biographical sketches, brochures and pamphlets, reports, radio transcripts, correspondence, news clippings, audio recordings, and photographs. The Hope for Youth series includes speeches, news clippings, photographs, meeting minutes, real estate purchase documents, and legal memos.

The Judge Elizabeth Bass Golding Collection is arranged in in three chronologically ordered series:

1. Personal Papers
2. Woman's Forum of Nassau County
3. Hope For Youth