An oral history interview with Ellen Proxmire, October 21, 2010

              WISCONSIN
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
An Oral History Interview with
ELLEN PROXMIRE
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Second of two interviews
Interviewer: .Anita Hecht, Life History Services
Recording Date: October 21, 2010, Interview #2
Place: Washington DC. Length: 1.5 hours
Ellen Imogene Hodges was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1945 married Wisconsin native
Warren Sawall. They moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where she earned her BA from the University of
Wisconsin in 1948. Six years later she and Sawall were divorced.
In the early 1950s, she became active in the Democratic Organizing Committee in Madison, eventually
becoming the Democratic Party's executive secretary. In 1956, she attended the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago with William Proxmire. Each had two children, each was divorced, and each was
committed to Democratic politics. During an evening walk in Grant Park, Proxmire suggested they marry,
which they did on December 1, 1956.
In 1957, her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate and the family moved to Washington. For the next 30
years, Proxmire divided her time between raising children, working in the Senate office, starting her own
business, and campaigning. In 1963 she published a memoir, One Foot in Washington: the Perilous Life
of a Senator's Wife.
In 1967 Proxmire started her own business, Wonderful Weddings, which expanded into a successful event
planning business handling major social events in Washington. In 1989, after Sen. Proxmire's retirement,
the couple remained in Washington, DC, until his death in 2005 from .Alzheimer's disease.
Ellen Proxmire Interview #2 Transcript
Proxmire Oral History Project