WASHINGTON, D.C.- The House and Senate have passed legislation to name Hartford’s main Post Office at 141 Weston Street after former U.S. Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly. The House passed the legislation that will designate the facility as the “Barbara B. Kennelly Post Office Building” on July 25, and the Senate passed the legislation on October 30. The bill will now go to the President for his signature.
“Barbara represents the very best attributes of a great leader and a wonderful friend,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd. “For 16 years I served alongside her in Congress and can say from the bottom of my heart that her vision and dedication to our state and to her constituents was unmatched. The naming of this post office is befitting a woman of her stature.” “Barbara is a dear friend and an outstanding citizen of Connecticut who has dedicated her life to public service on behalf of the citizens of our great state,” said Senator Joe Lieberman. “It is long past time, and the very least that we can do, to pay tribute to her in this small but lasting way.” “This is a tribute to an extraordinary woman who has fully devoted herself to the cause of public service for her city, her state, and her nation,” said Larson. “Barbara Kennelly had exemplary career in the United States Congress and I am proud to serve the same district that she so ably represented. It is fitting that we in Congress recognize her decades of leadership and commitment by naming this building in her honor.” Mrs. Kennelly represented the First District of Connecticut in the United States Congress from 1982 through 1999. Barbara Bailey Kennelly was born Barbara Ann Bailey, in Hartford, Connecticut on July 10, 1936. She attended St. Joseph Cathedral School and graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy in West Hartford in 1954. She earned her B.A. at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. in 1958 and received her certificate in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1959, and her M.A. from Trinity College in Hartford in 1971. She served as a member of the Hartford City Council from 1975 to 1979 and was Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1979 to 1982. Mrs. Kennelly was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-seventh Congress by special election on January 12, 1982, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William R. Cotter. She currently serves as the President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.