Ann S. Platt Dandrow (August 20, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American educator and state legislator in Connecticut.

Early life and education

Ann Platt was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the eldest daughter of Morris Thomas Platt and Mary Elizabeth Cleary Platt. Her father was an engineer; her mother was born in Ireland. She graduated from St. Mary's High School, in 1954, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. She attended

Quinnipiac College Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became Qu ...

and the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

as a young woman.

Career

Dandrow's fourth child was born deaf, after Dandrow caught

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

during the pregnancy. Because of this personal experience, Dandrow was founder and president of the Connecticut Association for Hearing Impaired Children, and lobbied for special education legislation in Connecticut. She received the Community Leader of America award in 1969. She and her daughter were at the White House in 1990 for the signing of the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

. Dandrow's work as a lobbyist led her into a career in politics. She served on the Southington Town Board and on the Southington Board of Education. Dandrow was a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...

from 1986 to 2002. She was credited with leading the successful effort to pass a statewide

Safe Haven law Safe-haven laws (also known in some states as "Baby Moses laws", in reference to the religious scripture) are statutes in the United States that decriminalize the leaving of unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that ...

in 2000. She ran unsuccessfully for a

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

seat in 2002. Dandrow started in politics as a Democrat, but for most of her career was a Republican. Dandrow was adjunct professor at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

and served as assistant director of the Berlin Senior Center. she was also assistant editor of the weekly newspaper ''The Plainville News.''

Personal life and legacy

Platt married Gerald Dandrow in 1957. They had four children, Jerry, Susan, Paul and Judy. Dandrow died from a stroke in 2017, at the age of 80, in

Southington, Connecticut Southington ( ) is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Mil ...

References

1936 births 2017 deaths Politicians from Boston People from Southington, Connecticut Southern New Hampshire University alumni University of Connecticut faculty Women state legislators in Connecticut School board members in Connecticut Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives American women academics 20th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly 21st-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians {{authority control, state=expanded