Estella B. Diggs (April 21, 1916 – April 18, 2013) was an American businesswoman, writer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Life

She was born on April 21, 1916, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. She attended Pace College,

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She was in the real estate and catering businesses and was a career counselor. She was also a writer. Estella Diggs was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1973 to 1980, sitting in the 180th, 181st, 182nd and

183rd New York State Legislature The 183rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 1979, to December 31, 1980, during the fifth and sixth years of Hugh Carey's governorship, in Albany. Backgro ...

s. She represented the

Morrisania Morrisania ( ) is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 163rd Street to the south, and Webster Avenu ...

section of

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. She helped write more than 70 bills and was responsible for the first Women's, Infants, and Children's program in the state and the first sobering-up station in the Bronx.Diggs obit with brief profile
On November 7, 2011, Estella Diggs Park was dedicated in the Morrisania neighborhood.Beekman, Daniel “New pocket park in Morrisania named for first Bronx African-American Assemblywoman Estella Diggs”

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

11/7/2011 She died in 2013, three days before her 97th birthday, in a hospital in the Bronx.

References

1916 births 2013 deaths Writers from St. Louis Politicians from the Bronx Pace University alumni City College of New York alumni New York University alumni Businesspeople from New York City Women state legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Writers from the Bronx 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American women People from Morrisania, Bronx Politicians from St. Louis 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century American women politicians {{NewYork-NYAssembly-stub