Generations unite for an alum trailblazer biography

The definitive biography of Ella Grasso ’40, the first American woman elected governor in her own right, hit shelves this fall thanks to the dedication of author, fellow Mount Holyoke College alum and political trailblazer Linda Melconian ’70. Adding a generational layer to this project, recent alum Belinda Mazzaferro ’25 provided invaluable research assistance.

“Ella Grasso: The First of the Firsts” is the story of a change maker who became the governor of Connecticut after being constantly dismissed due to her gender.

“I always wanted to write a story about my esteemed mentor, Ella Grasso. I admired her greatly,” said Melconian.

Melconian started her political career as a legislative assistant to Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., Massachusetts congressman and former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in the 1970s and ’80s. She met Grasso while they were both working on Capitol Hill.

“She used to come to O’Neill’s office once or twice a week to have tea with me!” she said. “We hit it off tremendously. We shared reminiscences over afternoon tea. The friendship deepened, and she became my political mentor. We had a lot in common: We both grew up in the Connecticut River Valley and were the first in our families to go to college. We talked a lot and became friends. I used to go out to dinner with her when she was in Congress.”

Melconian later served in the Massachusetts state senate from 1983 to 2005, rising to become its first female majority leader.

“Ella Grasso was without equal,” she said. “She was a uniquely popular vote-getter; she never lost an election in which she was on the ballot! She was dedicated to sound public service.”

Besides Grasso, Melconian also profiled other Mount Holyoke visionaries in the book, such as founder Mary Lyon, Mary Woolley, Frances Perkins, Shirley Chisholm and Nita Lowey ’59. “Each one of these Mount Holyoke women was a change agent,” she said. “In an era when a woman’s place was in the home, each was a change agent because she was the first.”

While working on the book, Melconian needed a research assistant and quickly hired Belinda Mazzaferro ’25 as an intern. Mazzaferro was supported with Lynk funding for the internship.

A Connecticut native, Mazzaferro was excited to join the project. “This was an experience I was grateful to have because when I came to Mount Holyoke, I was really interested in the Seven Sisters’ lineage and understanding more about women’s colleges and their long history,” she said. “When I was offered this position, I was really excited because I would get to be working with an alum and getting to do research on another alum.”

Melconian was impressed with Mazzaferro’s proficient research in the Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections.

“Belinda did a great job at research,” she said. “I was surprised and astonished at how good she was. She did research on South Hadley and found obscure things I used. Belinda did all the research in the [Archives] on [Grasso’s] role on the Veterans Affairs Committee — Ella couldn’t do enough for veterans.”

Mazzaferro spoke at the LEAP symposium about her research for the book. In her presentation, she cited the support of Melconian and Abby Glogower, research and instruction archivist.

“[Abby] was wonderful,” Mazzaferro said. “She was just so helpful at finding things and figuring out how to parse through things. Linda is very knowledgeable and is a really great person to talk to, because she has accomplished so much. When I was working with her, she was very supportive of me and everything I was doing. She pushed me to do my best.”

Ultimately, the book is a portrait of Grasso’s charm, her tenacity and the connections she had with her constituents.

“Elective politics can be harsh,” Melconian said. “It is impossible to please everyone, but Ella came close. She never lost the support of her people. She is irrefutably in my heart and the hearts of many others who loved her.”