The Delta Chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma was founded on November 6, 1920 at the University of Buffalo. At that time it was a private institution. Today it is the University at Buffalo and has been part of the SUNY system since 1962.
Bella Maisel (Rock) was initiated on March 20, 1921. She served as the chapter’s Archon (President) and she attended a convention.
Buffalo Jewish Review, April 8, 1921
Buffalo Jewish Review, December 22, 1922
She studied law as an undergraduate when that was an option, before law school became a post-graduate degree. She graduated at the age of 19 but had to wait until she was 21 to take the bar exam.
Bella Maisel is third from left in the front row. This is a photo of her graduating class at the University of Buffalo Law School.
Sphinx 1923
When Bella Maisel entered into a partnership with Dorothy M. Anthony, it was one of the first, if not the first, legal partnership with women owners. At that time, less than 2% of America’s lawyers were female.
Maisel married on November 27, 1930. A chapter report in the Sphinx said she was engaged to Alfred Rockowitz. The April 1931 issue noted that she married Dr. Abe I. Rock on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps they are the same person, and I suspect that they are one and the same. The couple had two children.
In 1954, she joined an established Buffalo law firm and became a partner in 1957, again being one of the pioneers in the field of law.
When she died in 1974, women had begun to make inroads into traditionally male professions. She did not have the opportunity to bask in the glory of her accomplishments. Maryann Saccomando Freedman paid tribute to her and her testimony is on YouTube.
