Antonina “Ann” Uccello ’44
1967: first female Mayor of the City of Hartford, first female Mayor in the State of Connecticut; 1971: Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation;
1971: Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Saint Joseph College;
1978: SJC Distinguished Alumnae/i Award;
1999: named in Women's Hall of Fame;
2008: "Ann Uccello Day" in the State of Connecticut
"If there's one thing I learned at Saint Joseph College, it's that women can indeed do anything. Saint Joseph gave me the tools for success. From Sister Rosa, I learned the importance of good time management. That served me especially well during my years working with Beatrice Fox
Auerbach at G. Fox & Company, and again, as mayor of Hartford. To this very day, I use Sister Rosa's system for time management."
Hartford Celebrates Ann Uccello '44
Hartford honored one of its own - and one of ours - when it renamed Ann Street after the city's first female mayor, Ann Uccello '44. A crowd of family members, friends and admirers stood by as Ann pulled off the fabric to reveal the newly named Ann Uccello Street. The City also determined September 29 to be Ann Uccello Day.
Making History
"I cannot find the words to describe the emotions that welled within me when I saw for the first time the sign on I-84 East pointing to the Ann Uccello Street exit, nor can I convey to you the depth of my gratitude mingled with a sense of unworthiness for the honor you have bestowed upon me," she said. Ann made history in 1967 when she became the first woman to be elected mayor of a capital city. She was re-elected in 1969 and asked by President Richard Nixon to go to Washington where she also worked for the administrations of presidents Ford and Carter.
In his blog, The Gizz-ette, posted after the dedication, writer John Gizzi recalled Ann's enormous popularity: "In 1970, polls in both The Hartford Courant and The Hartford Times showed the woman known universally as 'Mayor Ann' not only the most popular elected official among Republicans, but just about the most popular politician in the state."
Ann Uccello Street: a Hartford icon
One of five daughters (whose sisters include Nellie Romaine Uccello '54 and the late Vincenza Uccello '56, longtime director of Fine Arts/Collections at SJC), Ann recalled her father's concern in passing down the Uccello name. "It will certainly live on in Hartford," said WFSB anchor Dennis House, who served as emcee of the dedication ceremony. And Ann herself said, "Thank you God for keeping me alive to witness this all."
