Helen Z. Pearl

Helen Zalkan Pearl was the daughter of Col. George Zalkan and Harriet Libman Zalkan. She attended Vassar College. She was President of the local branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) and then head of the Status of Women Committee for the state board of AAUW. Helen also served as the second woman appointed to the local Finance Board and represented the City of New Britain on the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency for thirty years. She was the "Founding Mother" of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women of the State of Connecticut. She was State Chairperson of the bi-partisan, state-wide political committee campaigning successfully for passage of a state constitutional amendment prohibiting discrimination on account of sex (1974) (otherwise known as a state ERA).

After having children, Helen attended law school full time. She practiced law at Weber and Marshall, later Weber, Marshall and Thompson, then Weber and Carrier in New Britain for thirty five years. She primarily was a family lawyer, and served as a Special Master in New Britain and Hartford Superior Courts conducting pretrials, and served as counsel on the national board of the Veteran Feminists of America. She died on October 4, 2015.

Source: Helen Pearl Obituary. (2015, October 6). Legacy. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/hartfordcourant/name/helen-pearl-obituary?id=12413548