1944-1945

Adelaide Burkan Bodow was born in 1912, and she graduated from NYU and NYU Law School, where she was the only woman in her class. She was admitted to the bar in New York in 1940 and practiced law
at Schwartz & Froehlich with her uncle, Nathan Burkan, a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). They represented such notables as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Mae West, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, Arnold Rothstein, Samuel Goldwyn, and Al Jolson. Ms. Bodow’s work with the firm is mentioned in a 2020 biography entitled, Adventures of a Jazz Age Lawyer: Nathan Burkan and the Making of American Popular Culture. Among other accomplishments during her Presidency, she persuaded the NYS Chief Judge to speak at a NYWBA event for the first time, which brought recognition in law publications and increased the stature of the NYWBA. She remained active in NYWBA for decades, chairing the Judiciary Committee in the 1960’s.
She married Edward L. Bodow in 1939, shortly before she was admitted, and they had three children. She later worked part-time at Schwartz & Froelich through the remainder of her career. Ms. Bodow passed away in Miami, Florida in March 2000.