Who inspired Seaford's local leaders?

In an organization devoted to preserving history, Judy Bongiovi made some history of her own last year when she became the first female president of the Seaford Historical Society. The 34-year resident of the community started out as a volunteer in 2007, and moved up the ranks.

March marks Women’s History Month, and many local residents are taking time to reflect on the leaders who fought for an equal society.

Bongiovi has her place in the history of a community that dates back to the 1600s, and she knows there are many women she can thank for the opportunities she has. Most notably, she looks up to Eleanor Roosevelt. She has visited Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park, done much research on her life, and even owns a books of quotations from America’s longest-serving first lady.

“I was very impressed with how strong a woman she was in those times, meeting with world leaders and sticking up for women’s rights when it wasn’t that popular,” Bongiovi said. “There’s something about her — her look on divorce and on education was way ahead of her time.”

Bongiovi’s grandmother was a milliner for Lord & Taylor in New York City, and made hats for Roosevelt. “She was well known for her hats,” Bongiovi said. “Almost every picture you see of Eleanor Roosevelt, she has a hat on. She was quite the ‘mad hatter,’ I guess.”

In the late 1950s, the Levittown League of Women Voters welcomed Roosevelt, who spoke at Division Avenue High School on the topic “Could the Bill of Rights be passed today.”

The former first lady and women’s equality advocate visited the chapter that eventually became the League of Women Voters of East Nassau, covering Seaford, Wantagh and other surrounding towns, according to Barbara Epstein, the current president. Epstein said Roosevelt is one of the women she truly admires for making great contributions to the United States and the advancement of civil rights.

“She tried to strengthen the woman’s role in politics,” Epstein said. “She was a woman who spoke her mind, who really did things historically. For her time, she was out there talking about what was important.”