Maurine Neuberger (1906-2000)

Maurine Brown Neuberger entered politics as an Oregon state legislator and, as of 2010, was Oregon’s first and only woman to serve in the United States Senate. Neuberger was an advocate for consumer rights and women’s issues, and she advanced the causes of the Democratic Party in Oregon and the nation.

Maurine Brown was born in Cloverdale, Oregon, in 1906. She earned a teaching certificate at the Oregon College of Education (today’s Western Oregon University) in 1924 and a bachelor of arts in English and physical education at the University of Oregon in 1929, with additional graduate study at UCLA. She taught English at Portland’s Lincoln High School.

In 1945, she married journalist Richard Neuberger soon after his return from army service in World War II. Richard Neuberger, a Democrat, served in the Oregon House of Representatives in 1941, and in 1948 voters elected him to the Oregon Senate. Maurine Neuberger decided that she wanted to enter politics, as well, and she won a seat in the Oregon House in 1950. Both she and her husband were reelected in 1952, the first married couple to serve together in a state legislature. Both worked successfully to reinvigorate the Democratic Party in the state.

Richard Neuberger won election to the U.S. Senate in 1954, the first Democrat from Oregon in that body in forty years. In failing health, he died in March 1960. Many Democrats hoped that Governor Mark Hatfield would appoint Neuberger to fill her husband's seat, but he declined. She ran for the seat in November 1960 and won with 54 percent of the vote. She represented Oregon in Washington, D.C., for one six-year term.

In the Oregon state legislature, Neuberger advocated for education and sponsored legislation for consumers. Most famously, she put on an apron and demonstrated the difficulty of mixing yellow food coloring into margarine to end a ban on colored margarine that was supported by the powerful dairy industry. She also sponsored legislation that would have given equal pay for equal work for women and men.

In the U.S. Senate, as part of the Commerce Committee, Neuberger became best known for her advocacy for consumers, including a successful campaign to regulate tobacco advertising and a challenge to the meat-packing industry. She was also involved in significant developments in addressing women’s rights, co-sponsoring a resolution for an equal rights amendment and continuing her advocacy for equal-pay-for-equal-work legislation. In August 1961, she and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, the only two women in the Senate, participated in the commemoration of the 41st anniversary of the federal suffrage amendment.

President John F. Kennedy nominated Neuberger to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. The commission’s report—which would be a watershed in identifying women’s political, economic, and social inequalities—led to the formation of state commissions, including one in Oregon.

Neuberger married Philip Solomon of Boston in 1964. She chose not to run for a second term and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she taught courses in American Government at Radcliffe and Boston University. She returned to Portland after her divorce from Solomon in 1967, taught at Reed College, and served as a mentor and strategist for the Democratic Party in Oregon. After initially supporting the war in Vietnam as a senator, she became a critic of the conflict. She lived in Portland until her death in 2000.

Neuberger, Maurine, 1946, CN 013878.

Maurine Neuberger, 1946. Oreg. Hist. Soc. Research Libr., CN 013878
“Campaign hat was presented to Sen. Maurine Neuberger, winner of ‘off-beat’ award, by Mrs. Walter Naylor," December 1964.

"All miniatures on hat had meaning, among them flags for her NATO duties; bride and groom for recent marriage; gavel for presiding over the Senate; bitter pill to swallow in case her candidate loses; compass so she can always find her way back to Oregon; and key to hearts of Theta Sigs who presented award.” Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Richard Neuberger wins election to the Oregon Senate and Maurine Neuberger wins election to the Oregon House, November 4, 1954..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Edmond Y. Lee, Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Brown, April 1922.

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Neuberger photo collection, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 2, ba001530.
Maurine and Richard “Dick” Neuberger on their honeymoon at Grand Coulee Dam, January 1946..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Rep. Maurine Neuberger demonstrates how to make margarine (oleo) yellow before an Oregon legislative committee, January 1951..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Dilpix Studios, Neuberger photo collection, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 7.
Dick and Maurine Neuberger and Antoinette and Mark Hatfield have tea soon after Hatfield’s election as governor, 1958..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger, 1958..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine and Richard Neuberger meet with college student interns, Judy Saylor and Dan Gold, July 4, 1959..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Neuberger photo collection, Bradford Bachrach, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 8.
Maurine and Richard Neuberger at a news conference, February 5, 1959..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger with Ruth Neuberger, May 11, 1960..

At the time this photo was taken, Maurine was campaigning for her husband’s Senate seat and dealing with his death from cancer at the same time. Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., . Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger prepares for a TV debate for a Senate seat, September 8, 1960..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger meets with constituents in her Senate office, c.1961..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Neuberger photo collection, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 9, ba001536
Oregon State Representative Maurine Neuberger, 1961..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger, with Sen. Harrison Williams and Portland Mayor Terry Schrunk (left) discuss the effect of urban renewal on older populations, December 1962.

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger in Washington, D.C., 1965..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Women members of Congress, including Oregon Rep. Edith Green (seated, left), and Sen. Maurine Neuberger (seated, right)..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Neuberger photo collection, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 14, Orhi102846.
Maurine Neuberger, August 1969.

Maurine Neuberger back in Oregon after spending two years back East teaching at Boston University and Radcliffe and serving as National Chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger, 1971.

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib.,Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger in Portland, March 15, 1977..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger, December 7, 1981..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib.,Oregon Journal, Lot 1027, Box 108, folder 4-6.
Maurine Neuberger..

Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., Neuberger photo collection, Org. Lot 1007, box 1, folder 13.