1939-1940

Founder & Past President

Hon. Hilda G. Schwartz was a Founder, President, Vice President and the first Secretary of the NYWBA. A high school valedictorian, she attended NYU for undergraduate and law school. When she signed the Certificate of Incorporation, she was an attorney with offices at 165 Broadway and lived in the Bronx. At a time when there was crushing discrimination against women, she was the first female Director of Finance for New York City, served as Secretary of the Board of Estimate, and was a judge for 24 years. She was also active with the New York County Lawyers’ Association, serving on the Professional Ethics Committee in the 1960’s. She retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1983, at 76. She was married to lawyer Herman Schwartz, and they had a practice together in Manhattan and lived in Greenwich Village. They also helped found the Village Temple. Judge Schwartz passed away in 1998.