Library to Host Screening of Connie Cook Documentary

Tompkins County Public Library, in partnership with Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes and CloseToHome Productions, will host a June 9 screening of “Connie Cook:  A Documentary,” beginning at 7 p.m. in the Library’s BorgWarner Community Room.

A political pioneer, Cook was a 1943 graduate of Cornell Law School and one of the first female corporate lawyers in New York City.  Cook was a leader in the fight for women’s rights while representing Tompkins County as a republican in the New York State Assembly during the 1960s and 1970s -- a time when only two other women served in the assembly. Through the political process, Cook implemented legislation for broad-based public control of education and the decriminalization of abortion. Her efforts regarding abortion became a model for the rest of the country, launching the landmark United States Supreme Court case Roe V. Wade. In 1974, she became the first woman to be named vice-president of Cornell University, and that same year, she sued the Episcopal Church and won a battle that would allow women to become priests.

“Connie Cook:  A Documentary” is an interview-driven documentary filled with archival footage of Cook and others.  It features a diverse cast of Cook’s family, friends, colleagues and politicians.  The film was directed by award-winning filmmaker Sue Perlgut, founder of CloseToHome Productions, and Nils Hoover.

For more information, visit ConnieCookFilm.com and facebook.com/conniecookfilm or contact Perlgut at info@conniecookfilm.com.

*Corporate sponsorship for the film is provided by Carol Bushberg Real Estate, and The Jewelbox. The documentary is a project of Social Ventures and PEGASYS Studios and has been partially funded by a grant from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.