Zelinsky, Ed, 2006 November 15

Ed Zelinsky left Omaha to attend Yale College in 1968, then graduated from Yale Law School and remained in New Haven as an attorney and a member of the Board of Alderman. He discusses his childhood and adult involvement in Jewish affairs, his entry into city politics in the 1970s and his involvement in the construction of the Holocaust Memorial at Edgewood Park. Zelinsky discusses the political climate of the 1970s. Running as a reform Democrat, he became the first Yale student elected to the Board of Alderman. He shared this political affiliation with friend Frank Logue, who beat incumbent Bart Guida in the 1975 mayoral race. Zelinsky then discusses his role in appealing for the Holocaust Memorial. The New Haven Jewish Federation brought the proposal for the memorial to Mayor Logue in 1976. Although they proposed the New Haven Green for the site initially, the city ultimately decided to construct it in Edgewood Park. This was part of Zelinksy's Aldermanic ward so he represented his constituency in favoring the project. He recounts Frank Logue's support for the project, his memories o the 1977 dedication ceremony, and his views on the 1981 expansion of the memorial.

Interviewer: Ruben-Cadrain, Leah